“What is it, Sir?”<span style="color: #0080FF">Earl Wylyam Ramsay</span>’s chief squire asked him with a puzzled expression. Light had just begun to enter through the small glass panes of the Earl’s chamber. Although it was still fairly dark in the room, Wil could see clearly the squire inspecting a newly leather-bound book encrusted with precious stones on both sides.<br/><br/>“Do ye no’ read, Alan?” Wil joked in his thick Garikin accent while removing his nightclothes. Wylyam had just been woken up by his servant, whom Wil handed the book and careful instructions on how and when to deliver it to King Theodore.<br/><br/>“Yes, Sir, I can read,” Alan replied in a hurt tone. “I just don’t understand…”<br/><br/>“Why th’ King would want tae? Our king is a resourceful an’ wise ruler, an’ I believe he will appreciate this book. It's an original copy ay<span style="font-style: italic">The Prince</span>by Niccolò Machiavelli. Have ye heard of him?”<br/><br/>“Isn’t he the Godless Eyetalian who says what he thinks?” Alan asked as he opened the cover and began leafing through its pages. “Is this Latin?”<br/><br/>“Tuscan,” Wil corrected. “Machiavelli wasn’t a heretic – he was a political genius. He believed it was better tae be realistic an’ effective rather than cling to auld ways of thinkin’. Th’ King enjoys politics in all its forms. He may need someone tae translate it fur him, but Ah think he will 'preciate it.”<br/><br/>“Did you have it bound so? With the stones? It is lovely.”<br/><br/>Wylyam nodded in response. “Ay hope the King agrees. Now go, for th’ love of all ‘at is holy.”