The Dominant Species
28

My advisors agreed on what the test for the royal family should be. Alastair and I were both tested and we passed!

Thank you for congratulating us.

I was relieved.

Not only could I remain queen, but Alastair would help me take care of our kingdom.

He wouldn’t be just my husband.

That test became a part of the law and every monarch that came after Alastair and me would have to take it. Slowly, over decades, other cities all over the world had that test too, but not everyone.

When I secured an alliance with the humans I told my people that there was another species that could think like we do to share the world with. It would be what’s best for everyone. I decided to form alliances with the human city and as many cities of merpeople as I could for the sake of my people and everyone we would form an alliance with. It would provide safety. It could help everyone to flourish. I thought I could succeed. And not just because I had Alastair to help me, but because I was good enough. I was talented. I was no longer surprised whenever I did something right.

Alastair and I got married a year after I proposed.

Once the creatures were defeated, humans slowly recovered from their attacks. Caleb started an organization that helped land animals. He said he wanted it to spread all over the world. I expected that over the next few centuries the human race would multiply until there were billions of them all over the world.