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My grandfather believes in his divine and royal right to impose his will and keep them living as peasants. He also believes he knows what is best for them and for Niroli. Because there has been a history of insurrection amongst our mountain population, led by the Viallis. in the past, he also fears that by encouraging them to become part of todays world he will be encouraging them to challenge the Crowns supremacy.’
‘And you don't agree.' Emily guessed sympathetically.
‘I believe that every child has the right to a good education, and that every parent has the right to want to provide their child with the best opportunities available. My grandfather feels that by educating our poorest citizens, we will encourage them to want much more than the simple lives they presently have, he fears that some will rise up others will desert the land and maybe even the island. But I say it's wrong to imprison them in poverty and lack of opportunity. We have a duty to them, and for me that means giving them freedom of choice. You and I know what happens when young people are disenfranchised. Emily. We have already seen it in the urban ghettos of Europe: angry young men ganging up together and becoming feral, respecting only violence and greed, because that is all they have ever known. I don't want to see that happening here.
'I have tried to persuade my grandfather to invest some of the Crown's vast financial reserves in paying to install electricity in these remote areas, but he refuses to do so. Just as he refuses to see the potential trouble he is storing up for the island.’
Emily could hear the frustration in his voice. It had touched her immensely that Marco had connected the two of them together in their shared awareness of the downsides of keeping people impoverished and powerless.
‘Perhaps, once you are King...’ she suggested, but Marco shook his head again. ‘My grandfather is very good at imposing conditions and I don't want to trap myself in a situation where my hands are tied. Plus, it seems to me that some of Niroli's youth are already beginning to resent my grandfather's rule, just as previous generations resisted the monarchy. I do not want to inherit that resentment along with the throne, so I have decided to act now to take the heat out of the situation.'
‘But what can you do?' Emily asked him uncertainly ‘If your grandfather has refused to allow electricity to be supplied...'
‘l can't insist that it is. No’ Marco agreed. ‘But I can provide it by other means. Whilst I was in London. I bought what I hope will be enough generators to at least provide some electricity for the villages. My grandfather is furious, of course, but I am hoping that he will back down and accept what I have done as a way of allowing him to change his mind without losing face. He is an old man who has ruled autocratically all his life. It is hard for him. I know that, but the Crown has to change or risk having change forced upon it.’
‘You think there will be some kind of uprising?’ Emily was horrified, instantly thinking of the danger that would bring to Marco.
‘Not immediately. But the seeds are there. And still my grandfather is so determined to hold absolute power.’
‘You pretend not to do so but in reality you understand him very well, and I think you feel a great deal of compassion for him. Marco.’ Emily said gently.
‘On the contrary, what I feel is a great deal of irritation and anger because he refuses to see the danger he is courting.’ Marco corrected her. Her perceptiveness had startled him, making him feel that she knew him rather better than he had realised. ‘There are so many changes I want to make. Emily, so much here for me to do, but my grandfather blocks me at every turn.’
'You've lived away from the island for a long time and you've grown used to making your own decisions without the need to consult others. Perhaps your grandfather is being difficult because he sees this and in some ways he fears it—and you. You said yourself that he's an old man—he obviously knows that he can’t continue to be King, but my guess is that he doesn't want to acknowledge that publicly, and that a part of him wants to continue to rule Niroli through you. When you come up with your own plans and they are opposed to his he tries to block you because he's afraid of losing his power to you.'
‘I doubt you would ever get him to admit any of that.'
Emily could hear the frustration in Marco's voice and. with it. His hunger to right what he saw as wrongs. He would be a strong king morally, socially, politically and in all the other important ways, she recognised. Listening to him had brought home to her the reality of her own situation. Even if by some miracle he should return her love, there was no future for them. She could not be his queen, and she could never do anything that would prevent him from being Niroli’s king. Not now.
