"He's trying to consolidate selkie colonies since there aren't many of us left," Scrooge explained. "His colony's largely tucked away in the fey realms, away from shore-dweller hunters. Smart as far as defense goes, but he'd rather us all be squeezed together and constantly bumping into each other rather than swimming free as Lir intended us to."

He sighed.

"The truth is that that one selkie I swam with, Brigitta, I didn't even particularly care for her. I was paired with her and swam with her because I felt obligated to the colony who'd saved me. It was a relief when she bore no pups. I was being pressured to swim with her until we had children, essentially forcing me to become her mate, but I was tired of being crowded. If I settled down, I wanted it on my own terms. Only the alpha bull didn't particularly care for not just my 'insolence' but how my attitude on the matter was starting to get the younger selkies itchy to leave as well."