My Little Wizard: Music is Magic (Telemain)

[telemain]

Telemain's previously curious expression was transformed into one of horror. Magic was outlawed?! How did Merlin...survive?! He had no idea what he would do if magic was outlawed in the Mountains of Morning. Magic was his outlet for all the energy he had and he couldn't even begin to imagine; could not comprehend what it must be like to be denied of something that he saw as the most basic of rights.

But wait, how could they possibly regulate magic? Telemain had never given any thought to the possibility of the government flying around telling people what spells they could and couldn't perform. A new curiosity was aroused within him. Was it possible, according to the laws of magic? Could magic be traced?

"Did you have a magical microchip in you, or something. How could they tell if people were doing magic?"

Telemain could understand that there were certain people, who, if they practiced magic, were frowned upon, (like princesses) but surely, once you were in the privacy of your own home, there was no way to really tell, was there?

[Merlin Emrys]

"Well... they couldn't, I mean, not always, there were plenty of times I managed to do it without anybody finding out," only ever in a life or death situation. Or when Arthur's boots were particularly muddy. Or when he was tired and nobody was watching. Ok so he hadn't exactly been particularly careful with his skills, but at the same time if he was going to be living in fear he may as well do something to actually earn it.

"The only real problem comes if they catch you doing it, especially if you're caught by anybody in the castle. King Uther is fairly... narrow minded about magic." that was an understatement. Admittedly the majority of people Merlin had seen punished for doing magic had actually been attempting some fairly elaborate and/or somewhat evil plans, although that wasn't to say he hadn't seen Uther attempt to persecute perfectly good people just for doing magic, but he wasn't entirely sure how big the spell had to be before Uther declared death. It was possible that getting caught doing a spell to wash the windows would only result in, say, torture or life imprisonment maybe.

[telemain]

Telemain listened to him, blinking. He still didn't understand how a man as bad as this Uther guy apparently was could be allowed to outlaw magic. If the people wanted magic, why didn't they stand up to him.

"And the magic-users didn't just send a party representing their interests to the king and discuss their wishes for him to open his mind to the wonders of magic?" He said, still completely clueless. Simple enough, right?

"And if the king refused, won't the people rebel? Surely, they'd prefer a life filled with magic than a dull, cold life without it?"

[Merlin Emrys]

"He's...not that kind of king..." Merlin replied awkwardly. He could only imagine what would happen if a group of people turned up in the throne room and declared themselves magic-users who wished him to be more open minded. They probably wouldn't even make it to the throne room, they'd probably be arrested at the gates.

"It's... there's people who are too scared because they remember what it was like in the dark days, when Uther first outlawed magic and started having people killed. There's so few people who follow the old religion that there's not enough of them to rebel, if it would even work. A lot of people don't really understand magic, either, they've heard all these horror stories and rumours about the evils of magic and they don't really know anything else. He's a good king in every other respect, so people don't really care about the few magic users that are stupid enough to get caught and executed. The majority of people assume that if the king is executing someone, they did something to deserve it, that's just... the public trust those who are in power, so it takes a lot for them to look deeper. Besides, he's the king, he can do what he likes."

The more he thought about it, the more it made him wonder, Uther was king because everybody allowed him to be so, but if they revolted, then what? Who would be king? Would they allow Arthur to take over or try and put someone else on the throne? Besides, how could a bunch of shopkeepers and farmers face off against trained knights? The whole royal army? No, he hated Uther's attitude to magic, but an open revolt wasn't going to help anybody.

[telemain]

Telemain listened to Merlin's slice of life in the 'Land-Where-Magic-Is-Openly-Hated-And-People-Apparently-Don't-Have-Mature-Conversations-With-Which-To-Work-Out-Their-Differences" respectfully as he could, seeing as he was still operating under the belief that there was no finer land than his own anywhere to be found.

"So I take it you are running your magical operations under the unsuspecting nose of an intolerant, totalitarian government?" Telemain asked, sounding like the pride and joy of any Ivy League college. "And your king does what he likes and runs the kingdom according to his own belief system?" He wasn't really asking questions, now: he was talking to him, reaching an unassailable conclusion.

"Your king is in the closet about his relationship with magic." The magician nodded, impressed with himself. "He probably has a dark secret and an even darker past where magic is involved. Why else would he hate it so much? You see, when people attack something that barely affects them in such an extreme and obsessive matter, it means that they had a buried relationship with it that it very, very personal. And if that is indeed the case with your king, than the entire thing is actually...a metaphor for the battle for gay rights!"

[Merlin Emrys]

"Uh...well...yes... he's the king... that's what they do..." even though Merlin had learnt a lot about other forms of government and the different ways different places did things, he had grown up in a monarchy, a medieval monarchy, and his ideas of other forms of government were sort of abstract - things that happened other places, not in Camelot. Besides, he had high hopes for Arthur, he didn't really intend for the system to change.

Merlin nodded along with what Telemain was saying, waiting for the other wizard to pause so that he could, indeed, confirm that Uther had a deep, dark secret that caused his hatred for magic. It was all quite straightforward.
"Yes, that's-wait, what!?" he stared at Telemain, bemused at the conclusion the other young man had come to.

"...No..." he said slowly "It's not a metaphor for anything, it's an actual thing that is happening. Uther does have a history with magic, he lost his wife because of it and he reacted badly, that's why magic is outlawed in Camelot."