There has always been a kingdom ruled by the Liyume King and the Erya Queen. The king represented light, summer, life and fire, and the queen represented night, winter, death and ice. They each ruled for an Era—only ever summer or winter—though these seasons each lasted the span of a mortal life. The only times of short transition were those of autumn and spring—the times of change. When the Liyume King ruled it was summer and when the Erya Queen ruled it was winter. The other would be as Equinoct, while their opposite was in ascension. When spring and autumn came to the Realm of Ember then it marked the beginning of change for the two rulers and the time of their rebirth and death.
The Liyume King would live the life span of a mortal man, and the Era of Summer would last this reign. During this time, the Equinoct Queen would live as the consort to the king, and as an important knight and the King’s Champion. When the Liyume King’s time came to an end, and thus the season, his body would be burned, and his eldest son would walk into the the Hearth’s Flame, retrieve the Capsa Signet and assume his place with the kings of old. In rare circumstances, the son would also be consumed by the Flame, and the next oldest son would attempt the retrieval.
During this ritual, the Equinoct Queen, or her selected heir, would then join the king’s son in the flames. Both the Winter Heir and the Chosen of the Flame were then cleansed and reborn in the flames. This rebirth has led many in Ember to refer to them as the Rulers of the Phoenix Crown.
The Erya Queen’s reign would take place across the winter. As the queen had done so during the summer, the Equinoct King would now become consort to the queen and become the Queen’s Champion. Upon the beginning of spring, the Liyume King would wither and die and the queen would kiss the king’s hand, marking the end of her reign. The Equinoct King’s body would then be burned once more as part of the Hearth’s ritual, and reborn with his eldest son, as the Liyume King of Summer.
Upon the beginning of autumn, the Equinoct Queen would enter a crystal cocoon, said to have been made by the faeries. She would remain dormant there until the equinox when the king would burn away the cocoon to reveal the reborn Erya Winter Queen.
This has always been known as the Cycle and it was always ever expected to go on.
