The selkies stood across the room while Triton sat on the throne, setting me on the arm of the chair rather than on his lap. I pulled his arm away lightly, deciding that coming across as powerful was more important than keeping my nipples covered just this once.

He hesitated, but finally released me.

I appreciated it immensely that he hadn’t forced me to sit on him. He was making a statement that I wasn’t just a pretty decoration on his lap, and I loved that.

The selkies weren’t nearly as tall as any of the merrae I had met. Even the men weren’t that big. None of them looked abnormally strong, either. They looked… well, like me.

Shorter than the merrae.

Weaker, for sure.

They were all far more beautiful than I was, with something far more magical and alluring about their appearances than I had, though.

And, like the mermonsters I had met, they still looked extremely confident.

There were two kelpies flanking the group. They were bigger than the selkies, but not as big as the merrae. I recognized one of them from the beach. Owin, maybe?

The kelpie woman who stood at the front and in the center of the group stepped forward. She looked confident, her chin held high and her eyes bright with determination.

“Your Highness,” she said, dipping her head just slightly toward the king. And toward me, I guess. “We felt the change through the ocean when you claimed your female. Congratulations are in order, I presume.”

“You presume correctly, Eila.” I assumed that was the woman’s name. She must’ve been the leader of the selkies’, or at least their representative.

Surprisingly, there was no sarcasm in Triton’s voice. There was no gratitude either, though.

“Congratulations, then.” The woman’s voice didn’t waver. Whatever selkies could do, they weren’t afraid of the merrae. Or if they were, they didn’t want us to know it. “Since you’ve given the other half of your throne to another merrae rather than to a selkie, we expect to renegotiate the trade deal between our people.”

“I’m listening.” Triton didn’t sound like he was listening, but no one called him out on it.

“Currently, we control the populations of the giant squids whose ink is poisonous to you, and we keep the orcs in our pocket for the safety of the sea kingdom. In exchange, we’re given control over a small portion of the trade program between us and the rest of Alterrae. We are only allowed to work with the orcs.”

“What is your request?” The king’s question was blunt. Almost bored, too.

“We want full control of the trade. We outnumber you so vastly that we can handle the full-scale supply of all items. You control the sea, so we control the relationship between us and them.”

Triton’s arm tightened around my ribcage, just slightly.