His nostrils flared. “You make it sound simple.”
“It is simple.”
“There is more than one girl’s education at stake here.”
“Yes, much more,” she agreed, sipping her coffee. “If you prevent her from studying, you’ll be saying you don’t agree with me. That you think education should be unattainable for certain people in your country. You’ll be condoning the servitude of a whole subset of this society.”
He knew this to be true – the reality of that had been tormenting him for months. “And if I get involved,” he said darkly, purely for the sake of argument, because it helped to have someone play the devil’s advocate, “I’ll be establishing a precedent that these tribes must yield to the palace. And I’d rather not do that.”
“They are your subjects. Of course they must yield to you.”
“There is a delicate balance,” he insisted. “While in theory, yes, my rule is supreme, for decades we have existed in a kind of treatise state, a compromise – a balance. I do not wish to overrule Laith in this. I do not wish every single tribe to hear that I have taken that power from him – and for every single member of those tribes to realize their own rulers have no actual authority.” He ground his teeth together.
Sophia scanned his face thoughtfully. “You want to maintain the status quo, but Malik, you are not just the king of the people who live in the cities and towns. These people are your subjects. They deserve your rights and protection. If Saliyah wants to study, that must be your priority.”
Her words landed against his gut with a thud. “And what of these ancient, hallowed tribes, Sophia? Do I take steps that will see them eroded within my lifetime?”
“You don’t know that will happen.”
He arched a brow. “This is a hard life. A beautiful life, yes, but the danger of these tribes migrating closer to the cities is very real.”
“This is not some tribe in the Andamans! They know there is a life out there, they see signs of it often enough. We came here by helicopter. You and I are both wearing watches, your guards carry guns and satellite phones. Their culture has already been diluted by the modern world.”
“Isn’t that even more reason to protect it? What if all of this is lost within a decade?”
“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Worrying about the future cannot change the present. You have a young woman who is exceptionally bright and who simply wants to learn. No future right can be earned by doing something wrong in the present. You cannot deny her the chance to study, Malik.”
She had a way of speaking that made everything sound so easy, so reasonable, and yet it wasn’t. He shook his head slowly, his eyes focused beyond her. “These tribes are an important part of our culture.”
“Are they?” She crossed her legs beneath the table, her toes brushing his calf briefly. He felt impatience zip through him.
“It seems to me,” she continued, without waiting for his response, “that these tribes are a little like those beautiful, ancient tapestries that adorn the walls of the palace.”
He waited for her to continue.
“I used to love looking at those tapestries. The first time I came here, I spent hours just staring, following the intricate threads, looking at them up close and imagining the long-ago hands that had knotted them together, forming patterns that, when you stood further back made the most amazing pictures. I would run my fingers over those threads –,”
“They are not to be touched,” Malik said, but his lips were twitching into a smile of their own accord.
“So Addan told me,” she laughed softly; his smile died. “He told me it was bad luck but I… it doesn’t matter. My point is, they’re incredibly beautiful and quite unique to this country. Nowhere in the world are there tapestries with those patterns and colours, the dyes they were able to produce a byproduct of the vegetables available only here.” Her eyes widened. “These tribes are a part of your culture, but Malik, maybe they’re also destined to become another part of your rich history. Maybe they won’t survive the twenty first century. Societal change is a part of life. A hundred years ago, women in America couldn’t vote, people from different cultures couldn’t easily marry. Our world is always changing and evolving.”
She reached across the table, curving her fingers over his, but he was finding it hard to hear her words over the pounding of his pulse through his body. Everything she said made sense, it was though she was drilling right into his brain and tapping on the knowledge he’d always held, but had been fighting hard to accept.
“Whether on your watch or our son or daughter’s,” she squeezed his hand, “or their child’s or theirs, this way of life will survive or not. Laith has to make this workable for the younger people, so that they might choose to leave, and then come back. The tribes have to evolve in some small measure. That responsibility isn’t yours to bear.”
He let out a small sound of frustration. “This way of life is beautiful and valuable. It is unique and it must be protected.”
She dipped her head forward. “But not by you.”
He leaned forward a little, studying her face, her eyes that seemed to show him a whole galaxy in their depths. “By who then?”
“By Laith, by Saliyah, by the children out there who know only this reality.” She expelled softly. “You have a role to play – and it is to speak for your people. All your people. Saliyah is counting on her King to protect her rights, to see that her life isn’t diminished because she happened to have been born into this tribe. You cannot perform Laith’s role, you cannot. Your responsibility here is clear cut.”
He swallowed, her clarity something that sat within him like a piece of silver, shimmering and certain.
“You have tried to cajole Laith,” she said quietly. “And if you do not act, you will be forcing a whole generation of people, this generation, to live without choices, without options. You will be enslaving them.”
He dragged his palm over his chin, her words settling into his soul.