Uther was bored. His servants tended to avoid him when he was bored. To be fair, most people did. Family, nobles, knights, peasants, pretty much anyone who knew better stayed far away, lest he draw them into some plot or other excursion to quench the ennui.

Right now, all he could do was idly practice his archery at an apple tree, trying to shoot the fruits off the tree. The sun blazed hot overhead, making him wish from something juicy. It also made him wish he could just hit one. Damned. Apple!

As if summoned by his thoughts, one of the apples started glowing purple and flew over his head. He fell back, startled, then looked over his shoulder. Another man, a few years older than him, about twenty years of age if he had to guess, sat on the fence behind him. The blond held out his hand expectantly as the apple fell into it. He took a bite before noticing Uther looking. “Oh? Did you want one?” He stretched out his hand and another apple flew off the tree, this one falling into Uther’s lap.

“You can use magic?” Uther asked, his previous frustration completely forgotten.

“Primal magic,” the man corrected, taking another bite of his apple. “It’s purple, that’s how you can tell.”

“So different types of magic have different colors?” inquired Uther, feeling boredom slowly ebbing away. He set his bow down on the ground and stared like a predator at the interesting newcomer.

“Some do, but some variations share colors or don’t have any at all. Most variations aren’t that different, though, and the ones that are don’t share any colors, so I guess the answer is functionally yes,” the man replied.

“What can you do with magic?” Uther pressed, wheels already turning. This day was looking up after all.

“Well, it’s magic.” The man shrugged. “Of course there are limitations. Can’t bring people back to life— well, I guess, sometimes you kinda can under certain circumstances if you have enough power and do it just right, but even then it’s rarely what most people think of bringing someone back. I guess almost anything, now that I think about it, just not how you always want.”

“Like you can live forever, but in the sense that you’ll want to die if you do it?” Uther asked.

“Maybe, or maybe not. I’m sure there are some ways to do that without too many drawbacks,” the man mused. “Not that I know of any… yet.”

“Do you want to live forever?” Uther had turned around and leaned forward, enraptured by the discussion.

“Not sure,” admitted the man. “I guess I’ll figure that out when I get closer to death. I just want to learn how to.”

“So what do you know how to do?” Uther got up and moved closer to the man.

“A lot,” the man replied, beaming. “Mostly to do with magic and other intellectual pursuits.”

“What about politics?” Uther asked.

The man waggled his hand from side to side. “I’m no expert, but yes, I know the current ins and outs of the courts.”

“Hm…” Uther frowned, trying to think of something they could do. “Know any spells that could turn certain members of the court into birds?”

“I do,” the man agreed.

Uther waited for him to continue, and when it became clear he wasn’t, rolled his eyes. “Then let’s do it.”

“Oh! No, that’d be a really bad idea,” the man quickly backtracked. “It takes a lot of power and gets you labelled as evil. Seriously, people have been burned alive for less.”

“Then don’t let people know it was you. In fact…” He grinned evilly. “I know a certain usurper of the throne who’d be a perfect scapegoat.”

“I don’t—”

“It doesn’t have to be permanent,” Uther whispered. “Just a quick spell, let me spin some rumors and accusations, then come in and fix everything. You get famous, we get some more support. I’ll even point out some people who really deserve it. If anything goes wrong, I’ll let everyone know it was just a prank, nothing more.”

“Well, I mean, there is a transformation spell I’ve wanted to try out… and if I’m just using it on bad people… I suppose it’d be okay,” the man agreed slowly.

“Wonderful!” Uther clapped his hands together, then offered one of them to the man in a handshake. “Prince Uther, and you are…?”

Surprisingly, and most amusingly to Uther, the man didn’t get down on one knee and start gushing. Instead, he smiled and shook the offered hand without missing a beat. “Merlin.”

…

Against all odds, everything went perfectly. Anyone who had ever looked down on Uther or abused power had quite a nasty shock, and he was actually a bit upset Merlin refused to keep any of them that way. Speaking of the wizard, he was given the privilege to eat dinner with Uther, having earned a truly staggering amount of favor with the court. He was quiet, clearly still feeling a bit guilty, but Uther was sure he’d get over it.

After a few more minutes, Uther leaned over the table, grinning at the wizard. “So, Merlin, where do you live?”

The blond shrugged. “Around.”

“Around?” Uther raised an eyebrow.

“I just wander place to place,” Merlin explained. “Vagrants aren’t exactly welcome for long.”

“You mean to tell me you don’t have a house? A family? A place to stay?” Uther demanded. His indignation for his new friend soon started turning wheels in his head. With a self-satisfied smirk, he leaned back in his seat, tipping the chair up on two legs. “Well then, we can’t have that, now can we? After all, it’d be a disgrace for the powerful wizard who saved so many of our oh-so-honorable nobles to just be thrown out in the rain. How about you stay with me? Help out, keep me company, read as many books as you want, eat good food, and have a nice, warm bed, what do you say?”

The way Merlin’s eyes lit up told Uther all he needed to know.