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Iyara is the Queen of the Eternal Pride, and while she is undeniably an old lioness she hasn't been ruling for very long. Her mother, the previous Queen Aria, had been getting on in her years and needed an heir asap, so when a very young lion named Ahụrụ was brought in to be the nest pride leader she made sure that she had him as soon as she was next in heat. It turned out to be her last heat, and the last year of her life, as Aria died just after Iyara was weaned. Iyara was settled in to be raised alongside her two half-sisters, Ashoka and Doa.
Ahụrụ ended up living a very long and prosperous life despite starting out with little knowledge on how to run a pride and no prior training. However this meant that he got a late start in teaching Iyara to rule. With no one to assist in his duties he ended up teacher what he could when he could - there was little time for formal lessons. Over time Iyara was able to piece all the knowledge together and formed a clearer understanding of how to be a leader. While her father attended to patrolling the territory and interacting with other prides for politics and trade, Iyara took up the job of making sure everyday life in the pride ran smoothly. Ahụrụ couldn't have been more proud.
But Iyara was young and restless. She often found her thoughts wandering beyond the borders of their kingdom and what wonders might lie there. In an uncharacteristic show of recklessness she snuck away from the pride one night to adventure as she always dreamed to - however she didn't get far. She was spotted by patrolling male just a few territories over and cornered for trespassing. The male was tall, strong, and handsome, and despite the dangerous situation Iyara decided to push her luck. There were no other males in the Eternal pride other than her father, and she had come out here for adventure. What could have been a very violent encounter became a much softer one, spending a couple of days with the male before returning home. Iyara expected her father to be livid but Ahụrụ was only relieved that she was safe. She didn't tell him all the details of what happened while she was away but the obvious way her belly swelled in the coming weeks was a dead giveaway.
She gave birth to a single cub, a girl she named Mirabell. Iyara doted on her daughter, finally giving up her dreams of wandering and becoming content to stay and care for the pride. But when Mirabell reaches adulthood she pulls the same stunt her mother did and sneaks away one night and returns several days later with vague details of her travels. It doesn't surprise Ahụrụ and Iyara the slightest when little Arivanya is born a few months later. It is a strange family dynamic that forms between them; four generations alive and well and all interacting together. Ahụrụ is a great-grandfather long before his time, barely in his double digits when Arivanya comes of age. Visitors to their pride find it a little odd and even their brothers and sisters in the Lost pride, where yet another of Ahụrụ's grandchildren is Prince Consort, find it a bit out of the ordinary. Iyara doesn't mind though - she is fine with letting her newphew's mind work it out, and cares even less for strangers.
Ahụrụ's bones have started to creak and his mane is shot through with gray when he finds and adolescent named Nerevar wandering around their borders, along with several other cubs. With no male heirs he takes Nerevar in so he can train him to protect the pride when he is gone. Nerevar soon grows into a strapping young lion and takes over Ahụrụ's duties in short order, save for those that Iyara does not already handle. A handsome lion, it is little wonder that Arivanya takes a shine to him. Nerevar, flattered and just the slightest bit smitten, accepts her advances and soon it is clear she is carrying cubs.
Now it is Arivanya's turn to raise the next generation. Ahụrụ is on his deathbed when Iyara trots over to him and plops a squirming little lump of fur in his paws, Mirabelle not far behind helping an exhausted and shaky Arivanya into the den. Baby Mara is the beautiful thing he's ever seen and tells his great-granddaughter so. That night they sleep all in a pile, Iyara on one side, Arivanya on the other with Mara nestled to her chest, and Mirabelle drapped over Ahụrụ's back. When they wake in the morning Ahụrụ has passed. The pride feels his loss keenly and mourns him for weeks, Nerevar and his fellows included.
When all is settled again, Iyara - finally - takes her place as Queen of the Eternals.
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