Swallowtail’s pack had been rather quiet recently. She loathed the silence. Elise was the only one she had to speak to. There was Helene, of course, but the elder daughter of the late Fire Queen seemed . . . unstable. There was no better way to put it - Swallowtail feared she may be going mad, too.
The girl made Swallowtail nervous, because she was prone to rambling. Her eyes often had a faraway look, her mother’s same ending trademark. Athena had often had that expression when she was in her better moods, before those became nearly none. And Swallowtail may have helped to drive Helene over the edge - she had shot water through the Fire Queen’s heart with her daughter watching. It was an unexpected, shocking way to watch one’s mother die.
Plodding over to the throne that had used to belong to Queen Athena, she lifted back her head in a howl. A pack meeting needed to be called, to ensure that everyone was happy. And she had heard other troubling news, as well.
Elise and Sydney came right away. Queen Swallowtail greeted them, then sat back. She waited for the rest of the pack. She especially watched for Helene - she may need to do something about the girl. She could tell Helene scared Elise. And she needed to make sure that if nothing else, Helene was up to her job as an iota; they may be needing it in the times to come.

“Said no more counting dollars, we’ll be counting stars!”