**3rd Person POV**
Prince Aegan had a bright smile on his face. His summoning went well. He could not have asked for a better meeting. The horns of hell had requested the easiest thing for him to provide. He was going to see his mother because while everyone could call her a whore she was the queen of cunning; there was no trick she could not pull off. He had a wide smile on his face; his grandfather could not understand why he kept his mother by his side. He did not like being called a whore’s son or having his legitimacy questioned but he knew he could rely on his mother to come through for him in certain circumstances such as this one.
He found his mother enjoying a meal on her balcony. She looked as though she was in deep thought. He could easily guess what troubled her heart; the ultimatum her father had given her but he was happy to tell her that grandfather could shove his ultimatum down his throat.
“Mother?” he called out to her. She dropped the fork that was about to go into her mouth. For her, eating was a way to relieve stress.
“Aegan?” she quipped. The smile on his face did not do much to relieve the crinkle of worry on her face. She knew that her son was sometimes gullible; he was tough and would make a great king but he could be foolish sometimes. For instance, he could be celebrating after winning the battle forgetting that the war was far from being over.
“I need a favour from you, Mother,” he said with a smile.
“Is everything alright?” she was referring to his meeting with the horns of hell.
“It went well, Mother,” he said with a smile. She looked at her son with a little bit of pity. Things never went well with the horns of hell. If they left you feeling like things were okay, it meant that something was wrong. It meant that they did not consider you worthy and had given up on you. She decided however that it was too early to lose hope. She would groom her son properly for the next summon and things should be fine. She blamed herself a little, she had been so distracted with her father's sudden mention of marriage that she had lost focus.
“What favour is it that you seek?” inquired Princess Eris.
“It concerns Perisphone or at least what is left of her soul.”
“And?”
“I have been asked to deliver her soul upon my next summons. The horns of hell have asked for her soul in order to advance my cause,” replied Aegan. He said it like it was already done; like it was the easiest thing in the world to do.
“They want Regina?” it did make sense that they would want her but why they would demand her from Aegan was what baffled Princess Eris. It confuses her greatly because Regina meant nothing to her son. It would make sense if that request had been given to Lucian.
“Have you spoken to anyone about this?” asked Princess Eris. It may be that the horns of hell were trying to test Aegan. They knew that Regina meant something to Lucian so if Aegan should let anyone know about his task, Lucian would do anything to protect Regina from falling into their trap.
“I wanted you to be the first to know. I believe we shall inform Sir Derek so that he can…”
“You will do no such thing Aegan. I believe the horns of hell have tasked you with secrecy. You must tell no one about this. If word returns to Lucian that you are going to give up Regina's soul he will do everything in his power to stop you. You can leave me to the task. I will deliver her soul to you,” Princess Eris told her son. She knew just what she needed to bait Regina.
“You do not respect me, mother,” Aegan's voice was dangerously low. Princess Eris put on her best smile. She did not want to upset her son. She knew he had a dangerous temper.
“I do respect you, son. You are the future Hades, how can I not be terrified of you?” questioned Princess Eris. A lot of people pointed fingers at her as a whore but half the time they were wrong. She was only good at inflating the egos of men. It was how she had managed to marry Hades even though he loved his wife dearly. It was also how she had secured her son's position in the senior court. Her son too was a man and she would inflate his ego in order to bend his will to hers.
“I know your tricks, Mother, you are trying to sweet talk me like you do with the men you sleep with,” Princess Eris tried not to appear offended at what he had just said. She understood that he was still angry with her for trying to sleep with Lucian. But one could not blame her, Lucian was every woman's dream. Besides, she had thought then that if she had Lucian she could know what he was thinking and she could use it to her advantage. It was unfortunate that flattery or seduction had not worked on Lucian. Instead, he had fallen in love with Perisphone. In a way, she was happy the horns of hell wanted her. She was almost certain they wanted her to destroy her soul and if that happened she would be very happy. George crossed her mind for a brief second. If the horns of hell had Regina, it would frustrate George's effort. He would be unable to achieve his goal. However, she knew that if the roles were reversed George would do the same thing.
“Never son, never. Tell me, what do you intend to do and how do you need my help?” asked Princess Eris. She saw her son's face relax.
Sometimes all one had to do was to change strategy.