Atlas Outtake #11: The Kingdom

The first king of Tavolara was a shepherd with three wives who bedded or sired every one of the kingdom's citizens. His kingdom, three miles long and half a mile wide, was ruled by three generations of kings and queens with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Everyone who ever landed on Tavolara—from African pirates to NATO soldiers—forgot the experience nearly immediately afterwards, so easy a kingdom it was to forget that Italy forgot entirely to ever annex it at all. Today's king and his sister, the princess, run the island's two competing restaurants, serving fresh lobster and pasta with every royal audience, and the king is assisted by his heirs, the youngest of whom is named for the kingdom's founder to insure that no one ever forgets who rules here and how they came to be.