Godhood | ONC 2024

Chapter One

Everyone had come out to celebrate the big day.

The musician's pavilion had been festooned with flower garlands and paper lanterns for the occasion. Jars of fragrant white rice and bread stuffed with purple yam had been cooking at the village square since morning. And along the main street, market stalls offered arrays of skewered chicken meat and seasoned coconut wine for guests to enjoy.

Both the locals and visitors had donned their cleanest shirts, skirts, robes, and loose pants. The women wore their most colorful jewelry, and the men sported ceremonial bandanas over their bound hair. Wooden sandals clacked against the stone pathways as excited guests greeted one acquaintance after another.

It was a pity, then, that her wedding would not go through.

Palya looked away from the festive scene beyond the temple window. Her eyes landed on two old men poring through scrolls and bound parchment pages that lay scattered atop a bamboo table. One man, in a long robe woven from expensive blue silk, threw down the papers he was holding.

"There's no hope for it. All the records say that there is nothing we can do." His booming voice echoed against the library walls, making Palya wince.

The other old man didn't react the same way she did, though. Instead, he grinned with glee and rubbed his hands together. His eyes beheld the delight that he felt at the moment.

"I can't believe it." The gleeful man walked towards Palya, who didn't dare move from where she stood. He grasped her shoulders and gave her a little shake. "My daughter has turned into a goddess."

Palya's smile did not reach her eyes simply because she didn't share his excitement. The fate that had befallen her only added to her unease. She merely waited for her father to stop what he was doing.

The blue-robed man walked off too, but he stopped at the center of the room, allowing the sunlight to give his frizzy white hair a silver halo.

"You better believe it. There's no other explanation for the mark on her forehead."

Palya thought back to the moment she'd entered the temple where her wedding ceremony was supposed to take place. When she'd stepped through the threshold, a blinding light had engulfed her body, and a spot of heat had touched her forehead. The next thing she knew, there was a mark on her face in the shape of the golden sun.

"I guess this means that there will be no need for us to intermarry with your family," Palya's father declared, even though he'd been adamant about marrying her off just before.

"We had an agreement," the other man said, displeased with his companion's response. As he should, since he was the person who'd provided them with a groom. "Your daughter's and my nephew's marriage would give our families access to opposite regions of the continent. We would secure connections and trading opportunities, not to mention heirs to our bloodlines."

Palya's father scoffed.

"I have a goddess for a daughter. Those matters are trivial compared to this prestige," he said, a toothy grin showing through the thick beard on his jaw. "She might have to marry a fellow god. Isn't that right, Palya?"

Palya took that as her permission to speak. She didn't say anything at first, though, because she knew that she might displease her father if the wrong words left her mouth.

"I don't know how this works," she finally admitted, careful not to mention that she hadn't wished for this situation. Doing so would likely elicit his ire. "The records don't explain anything beyond receiving the mark. What do I do, father? What's going to happen to me?"

"Well, I don't know myself," her father replied. "That's your problem to deal with, isn't it? I'm not the one who turned into a goddess here."

Her father's words made Palya's heart sink. She should have known not to expect any kind of sympathy from the man who'd arranged her marriage at the soonest possible opportunity. She bit her lip as her mind frantically searched for the right words to say next.