How To Train Your Dragonlord

Morgana's Plotting

Morgana had a secret weapon for the torture of Merlin, one that Merlin could never have realised that Morgana would use to her advantage. Morgana's torture was based largely on Merlin's immortality, a thing that Merlin could not change.
Morgana had decided to combine this inevitability with the magically enhanced venom of a deadly, poisonous snake. It was while Morgana was petting her poisonous pet, slowly enhancing the deadliness of the venom to her satisfaction, that Merlin noticed something in his cell.
Merlin, who had no choice but to hang from the metal ring and contemplate, looked up to notice that Morgana had made a mistake. When she had cast her silent spell to accelerate the metal's production for her own gain, Morgana failed to end the spell sufficiently to end the process at an adequate time in the metal's cycle. The iron ring had started to rust at a significantly quicker rate than normal. It was this inadequacy that Merlin picked up on, and at the right time before the metal was rusted solid.
Seeing an opportunity to at the very least relax his arms, Merlin wrapped the chain of his manacles around his hands, to pull it taut. Having done this, he allowed his feet to leave the ground completely, his legs swinging. Using as much strength as he could muster, considering he hadn't eaten in days, he pulled on his chains with all of his weight. At the same time, he swung his legs. He felt the iron give way and, as he fell, he stretched his legs out, so that his feet hit the floor before he was going too fast.
Whatever spell Morgana had cast on the iron initially seemed to have spread to the manacles. Using a little initiative, Merlin pressed the chain of the manacles to the lock on the iron cell door. He watched as a tiny bit of rust infected the cell door. He also saw that it was going to take a lot longer than the ring or the manacles.
He stood back a little then, as he heard footsteps, looked like he was confused about the ring's collapse. He watched as Morgana walked around the corner. "What happened?" she screeched at him as she saw him standing there.
He looked to her, supposedly dazed, and said: "I fell. The ring broke." He faked a yawn and sat down. "I had been half asleep."
Morgana growled and stormed off, back around the corner. In her anger, she forgot to loop Merlin's manacles around a fresh ring of iron. She also hadn't noticed the tiny flecks of rust making their home on the iron bars that acted as the door to Merlin's cell.
Merlin sat back in his corner, with a small, private smile tickling his cheeks. Safe in the knowledge that he could soon be free of his cell, Merlin closed his eyes and had a well-deserved nap.

Morgana, in need of positive news of any form, stormed into her chambers, where she had been working on a project. She had been busy creating... something. Something key to the fall of Camelot. Something that could ensure that she became Camelot's Queen.
She stormed into the room and stopped short. Then, a sly smile crept across her face. Her project was coming together nicely, and she could very clearly see that this effort would be well worth it.