Lies Among Gods

CHAPTER 1

In the age before worship, we mistook survival for living, never knowing how dim our existence truly was until the gods taught us to kneel.

With the gods among us, purpose was assigned, and no life existed without divine approval.

To worship was to belong, and to belong was to survive.

The gods taught us that harmony required obedience.

Snippet from “The Book of Natural History” By Priestess Antonella Killoran

Some rejections fall like rain—soft at first, then soaking straight through to the bone.

Lyra Nymphaea bit her lip, a salty tang against her tongue as her teeth dug in, fighting back tears.

The parchment in her hand swam before her eyes, the ink blurring before she pressed it to her chest. The paper felt so rough to her fingertips.

Sixteen, two weeks ago, and she’d dared to apply to serve at Elio’s temple.

Wiping at her wet cheeks, she pulled the letter back; the paper crinkled in her trembling hand. She squinted, praying for a mistake. But the stark, crimson word ‘denied’ glared back, a brutal slap to her hopes.

What will I tell Adrian? Will he hate me?

Tears, warm and slick, traced a fresh path down her cheeks, blurring the world before her.

A knot of dread tightened in her stomach, a cold, creeping fear whispering that his disappointment would shatter her world if he found it.

A lump formed in her throat as she bit back an anguished cry.

On her sixteenth birthday, she had gone to the heart of Elyndra, the Celestial Ward, where the temples of the fifteen gods were.

She had traveled from her province, Stoneward Fields, part of the earth god Petro’s worship area.

This had been her first attempt to apply to one of the gods.

She could still see the towering temple of Elio, its golden facade shimmering in the sunlight, the sounds of chanting echoing through the air when she applied.

The elites worshipped Elio, the sun god, including Aiden’s family, promising a future that felt lighter and easier.

If the right god accepted you, doors swung open, ushering you into hallowed halls of academia and lucrative career options.

Their society depended entirely on which divine presence favored them.

Rejection, however, would cast one adrift.

Your home, your friends, and every facet of life revolved around the deity you worshipped.

I am one of the rejected ones, a rejected soul.

My life is over. How will I ever be able to fix this?

She squeezed her eyes shut; the darkness punctuated by flashing images.

A cacophony of mental noise—thoughts like colliding cars - filled her head.

A cold sweat prickled her skin as she desperately sought a solution.

Wiping stinging tears, she gazed at the off-white ceiling.

The crumpled paper clenched in her fists mirrored the crushing weight in her heart.

There are plenty of couples who worship different gods.

He would not break up with me over this.

We love each other. I love him. He loves me.

Right? Maybe I’ll just pretend I didn’t get the letter and reapply.

After waiting two more weeks, I can try again to be an Elio worshipper.

I can figure out what I did wrong and fix it. I can fix this.

Nodding to herself, she knew that was the best course of action.

I didn’t need to tell anyone that Elio had denied me.

Plus, how would they know unless I told them?

With a weighty sigh escaping her lips, she jumped out of bed.

She walked to the trash can. She ripped the letter, the paper crackling sharply, into minuscule pieces.

The fragments fluttered, a silent flurry, before landing in the metal trash can.

Lyra meticulously prepped for school, her auburn hair brushed to a sleek, straight curtain that cascaded down her back, catching the morning light.

A whisper-thin line of eyeliner accentuated her dark green eyes, which held a soft yet vibrant gaze, often revealing the quiet tide of her emotions.

Her delicate features, softening an angular chin, gave her face a pixie-like, almost ethereal quality.

She was a classic, timeless beauty. Standing five feet six inches tall, the soft fabric of her favorite dress highlighted her naturally slim build.

The soft leather of the flats molded to her feet as she slipped them on.

The last time she’d worn heels, towering over Aiden’s five feet seven inches, a frustrated hiss had escaped his lips, a sound like scraping gravel, as he’d accused her of mortifying him.

She was trying to put up a false confidence that she was not feeling.

Sleep had eluded her as she had spent half the night researching why she could have been denied and how she could fix it.

What is it about me that the Pantheon did not like?

Why wasn’t I chosen? Did I answer a question wrong?

Was I wearing the wrong clothes when I applied?

She still wasn’t sure what she would do, but she knew she would do whatever it took to fix this before anyone found out.

She’d poured over websites, determined to absorb every detail.

The hum of her laptop would fill the quiet room as she navigated online practice tests, her brow furrowed in concentration, the cool plastic of the keys a familiar comfort beneath her determined touch.

I will pass this time; I will be prepared.

As she walked down the school hall, clutching her notebook to her chest, she heard the murmur of voices as she passed.

It’s all in your head; they don’t know. The metallic tang of the hallway air did little to cut through the nervous flutter in her stomach.

As she yanked her locker open, the clatter echoed unnervingly, and the worn cover of her biology book felt cool and smooth beneath her fingers.

Mid-turn, a sharp, familiar snicker sliced through the low hum of locker doors slamming shut and distant footsteps.

Her head snapped around, the sudden movement making her vision blur for a second, a desperate hope for solace in the one face she trusted above all others.

“Hello, Clara,” she smiled at her best friend since elementary school.

Clara’s bleach-blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that emphasized her sharp cheekbones.

Her icy blue eyes, the color of a winter sky, mirrored the vibrant blue of her skirt that swished with her movements.

Her shirt displayed the logo of their favorite band, Fallen Boys, its ink slightly faded from wear.

Emily stood beside her, clad in worn denim jeans and a t-shirt, just like Clara’s.

“Hmph,” Clara snorted while rolling her eyes. “I’m surprised she even showed up today.” Clara turned to look at Emily, who rolled her brown eyes.

“What?” Lyra whispered. “Who are you surprised is here?”

Clara rolled her eyes, the gesture sharp and dismissive. Without another sound, Clara and Emily retreated down the dimly lit hallway.

A hollow ache twisted in Lyra’s stomach, a cold, churning dread.

It’s impossible she doesn’t know, could she?

My parents don’t even know. I got the letter before they could even see it.

No one should know because it is not a public record when a God denies you.

They only make it public when they accept you to worship.

Maybe I said something wrong yesterday. Maybe someone told her a lie.

It can’t be about the rejection letter; there’s no way.

Every muscle in her body screamed with a dull throb, mirroring the tight knot of tension coiling in her stomach.

A sickly, sour wave of nausea crept up her throat, tasting the bile.

The urge to bolt, to escape and bury herself in the familiar comfort of home, was a palpable pull.

But she lifted her chin, the smooth, cool skin feeling taut against her resolve, and forced herself down the echoing hall.

My parents would ground me for the rest of my life if I ditched.

Each step echoed softly on the polished floor as she navigated the long hallway.

The air, thick with the indistinct hum of hushed conversations, grew into a cacophony of distinct murmurs.

Then she saw him. Adrian laughing with a circle of friends.

A lock of disheveled, rich chocolate brown hair fell artfully over one eye, reminding her of her favorite one of the Fallen Boys, Georgie.

The instant his dark brown eyes, so warm moments before, met hers, the laughter abruptly ceased, replaced by a chilling haughtiness that settled over his features like a shadow.

In that heart-stopping second, a tidal wave of every gnawing fear crashed over her.

He knows I was denied. She didn’t know how he knew, but she knew he did.

Her breath hitched as she recoiled, a primal urge to bolt overriding the icy dread of parental fury. She wanted to shrink into the shadows and just vanish from existence.

“Lyra,” Adrian yelled across the hall. Snickers came from behind him as his friends turned to look at her.

She could feel the eyes of everyone in the hall boring a hole into her soul. Her face burned as she knew there was nowhere to run now that she was in the spotlight. She recoiled, the icy disdain in his eyes like a physical blow, a sharp chill prickling her skin.

A smirk played across Adrian’s face as he stopped about five feet away.

He swept his gaze over the sea of faces as a murmur rippled through the throng.

He paused as if confirming the crowd attuned to his every word.

Her heartbeat so fast in her chest she thought it might break free of her ribcage.

She clutched her book to her chest, as if it were some shield that might protect her from her worst fears coming to life.

She had been in love with Adrian from the first day she saw him in kindergarten.

For years, he’d passed her by; she was a silent ghost in the periphery of his life.

Then, a shift last year, and he started talking to her.

She had been so surprised since she had just watched him from a distance, never thinking he would look her way.

When he asked her out on that first date, a wave of pure elation washed over her, so intense she felt a dizzying lightness, as if the very air around her had thickened and hummed.

She had spent the last year making sure he didn’t break up with her.

She only ate the foods he liked, she made sure to never eat too much; she hung out with his friends, did the things he wanted to do, only wore shoes that made sure she stayed shorter, and she had even applied to worship the same God as his family just to make sure he would be happy with her.

If he didn’t like an outfit, she got rid of it.

Haircuts needed his approval. She had based her whole life on him, and now she felt that life crumbling.

The enveloping crowd went quiet as if to make sure they heard every word. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes while she tried to fight them back. She swallowed the lump in her throat, unable to speak around it.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” he said, dramatically shaking his head. His voice was so loud she thought it might carry to every ear in the school.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She could hear the tremor in her voice as she tried to control the raging fear and sadness swamping her heart.

“You can stand here and lie all you want,” he snorted. He brushed a hand through his hair, removing the strands from the eye it had covered. “But I’m done lowering myself to your standards.” His mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “I need a partner who’s… divinely aligned. I can’t date you anymore.”

She stood there, staring at him. Hoping this was a joke, some prank that was being pulled on her for some childish video that would be posted on Pantheia later. That at any moment someone would jump out with their phones, laughing at her for believing this cruel joke.

“Don’t you get it?” he laughed cruelly. “This is me breaking up with a girl who wasn’t worthy enough to worship my God. So go—crawl back to whatever forgotten corner you came from. Maybe some pathetic deity will accept what the pantheon wouldn’t. May the gods ever be with you.”

Adrian turned to his friends, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. “Did you see her face? Like, did she expect me to keep dating her? She wasn’t even that pretty to begin with. I always could do better.”

“I don’t even know why you dated her to begin with. We all know Elio wouldn’t accept someone like her,” one of his friends said.

“That was my last charity case,” Adrian laughed before entering the classroom.

Tears streamed down her face as the crowd dispersed.

She knew their eyes were on her, but she could no longer feel them.

She knew they were whispering, gossiping about her, but she couldn’t hear the voices over the crushing pressure of her heartbreak.

Her heart felt like it had shattered in her chest, the shards tearing at her insides, causing internal bleeding.

She tried to take a breath, to push herself to put one foot in front of the other, but she was rooted to the spot.

The crowd thinned, shuffling to their classes, but she didn’t move.

The bell rang, signaling that class had started, causing her to jump.

She looked at the empty halls, no longer caring if she got into trouble.

She turned, her vision blurred and headed towards the exit.