The troubling news brought by Violette hounded Ulysses Ulysses well into his third goblet of wine that night. It simply refused to leave him alone. War was not something he wanted to think about, but if he didn't handle it, the people would live in fear. No one should have to fear the Watcher. The king had no reason to distrust his spy's information. Violette had never been wrong before. She was reliable, and Ulysses knew not to ask about her sources. Usually he wouldn't want to know.

Soon he reached a blissful state of half-awareness. A stray thought drifted in and out of focus, hovering in front of his mind's eye. Dr. Fairley, that damn surgeon who liked to remind him of how he was getting older and he really shouldn't drink so much. Ulysses was king, therefore he could drink whenever he pleased as long as it didn't put the kingdom in jeopardy. True, he remained unmarried and without an heir, and at this age it was unlikely either would happen. But Ulysses planned to pick a worthy successor to lead this great nation after his passing; maybe his royal adviser, or even Violette!

Ulysses laughed out loud at such a prospect. Oh, the nobility would be furious! He'd saved the girl from the stocks on a whim. Chances were she'd have been thrown into the pit soon enough otherwise; after a person is caught so many times for minor offenses, the constable grows tired of letting them go so they can just keep stealing. It wasn't until after that Ulysses realized her potential.

But that was all in the past now. There were certain matters to attend to, such as the missive announcing his distant cousin's arrival in the kingdom. They hadn't parted on the best of terms, but maybe this could be a chance to put that behind them. So, on the day William arrived, Ulysses instructed the servants to prepare a great feast and also treat his cousin with the same amount of respect they would him. It had been years since they'd seen one another. Still, family resemblance was unmistakable.

"My cousin, the king!" William exclaimed, beaming. "I can scarcely believe it! You know, when you on that mad voyage—How long was it? A year? Year and a half?—Well, we all thought you were lost at sea...Remember what you said before you left?"

Ulysses nodded. "That I'd write when I found the other side of the world."

"That was it. You should have seen the look on your mother's face when the letter finally arrived." he smiled at the memory. "Now here you are, all these people looking up to you, serving you...It must be quite grand." His cousin never was a very ambitious man. Unlike him, try as he might William couldn't change his lot in life, and he didn't try too hard either. But he refused to be content.

"It's also a huge responsibility to rule a kingdom. I sacrificed much to get where I am today," Ulysses glanced meaningfully at his cousin. "Including my family."

Silence followed. Then, "There's someone I would like you to meet."

The king was vaguely intrigued. "Who?"

"A woman, very pretty and virtuous. I think you'll get along famously."

In walked said woman, who was indeed rather remarkable. She bowed to him and introduced herself as Simone. She smiled with all her teeth. A servant brought sweet wine. Ulysses quickly lost himself in mirth. They drank and talked until late into the evening. When Simone leaned in for a kiss, he did not pull away.

Then everything went black, quiet and still.

Ulysses dreamed.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

"Will you pay me now?" Simone asked impatiently.

"Just wait, dear lady," William replied. "Soon the gold shall start flowing in, and everything will be put right."

She sighed. "As you wish..."

Together they dragged Ulysses sleeping form out of the castle.

)O(

Alexander Fairley considered himself a relatively uncomplicated man. He never questioned authority, always paid his taxes on time, and sat in the back of the monastery during church. In short, his was a simple but fulfilling existence. During the day, Fairley could usually be found looking after patients in his clinic, or making trips to the village if they were too ill to come to him. At night, he occasionally visited the local tavern.

It wasn't entirely true that Fairley never questioned authority, He did, as any informed person should, but he kept those questions to himself. That is, until he began to suspect something was terribly amiss with King Ulysses. It was one thing to ask for gold so that your sick cousin can afford decent treatment, but the amounts he now requested were frankly unreasonable and absurd. Fairley knew how much medicine costs, and most villagers couldn't even scrape together enough funds to purchase it for themselves let alone someone else.

That's when he noticed the young woman pouring herself a drink. He could have sworn he knew her. A former patient, perhaps? No, that seemed unlikely. Fairley would remember if a girl like that had ever been laid out on his operating table. She took a seat in a corner close to the stone oven. After some hesitation, he decided to approach her.

"Pardon me, miss, but—"

"Let me guess," she cut him off. "I look familiar, but you cannot recall my name to save your life? It's Violette, Violette Trender, and you're not the first to tell me that, so don't worry about it."

"Ah...Well, I should—"

"Pull up a chair," Violette finished for him yet again. "I don't bite...most of the time." He laughed, hoping it sounded easy and not uncomfortable like he was now. Fairley sat down across from the red-haired woman while her eyes searched his face. "And you are?"

"Alexander Fairley, local surgeon."

"Oh yes, now I remember," Violette smiled warmly. "They really sing your praises down in the village. People owe you their lives, Dr. Fairley."

"I do what I can." he said, gazing into his wine, wanting to accept the compliment but only thinking of all the people he couldn't save and those who still needed him while he was busy drinking in a tavern. "And what do you do, Violette?"

"For money or for fun?" was her response.

"Either, I suppose."

"The answer for both is the same," she smirked. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." It took a minute for that to fully sink into his slightly alcohol-addled mind. Then all he could do was blink at her until she started speaking again. "Seriously though, I'm working on the king's behalf."

This piqued Fairley's interest. "Has he been acting at all...odd to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I cannot be certain, but I think...possibly..." Fairley lowered his voice. "The monarch may be an impostor."

Violette smiled wide. "Figured that out, have you?"

"You...knew?"

She shrugged. "I have my suspicions."

That cinched it. They were perhaps the only two people in the kingdom who had even the faintest idea of what was going on. It just made sense to pool their knowledge and work together toward a common goal. With luck, they would be successful.

)O(

A/N: I'm basically combing The Case of A Missing Monarch and The Monarch's Medicine quests here, which means this is officially AU, like most things I write. But it provides for some very nice bonding time for Fairley and Violette. Soon I'll introduce the rest of our heroes and get back to resolving Orpheus' problems.