The silence that followed her declaration was thick enough to feel, a heavy blanket of implication that stretched across the miles between them. Elreth did not look away, her own fiery will a visible force against her father's immense presence. The air in her red-hued room seemed to grow warmer, charged with the tension of her demand.
"Papa," she stated, her voice sharp and clear, leaving no room for misunderstanding. "I want to make him mine."
For a moment, the stern intensity on Solomon Samael's face broke. A low, rumbling chuckle escaped him, a sound like shifting tectonic plates.
A genuine, if darkly amused, smile touched his lips.
"Who would have thought," he mused, his burning orange eyes crinkling at the corners, "that my fierce, untamable little girl would finally find a boy who could capture her attention. And such a promising one, at that."
