“Card of Betrayal”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFyL6y7j5x
The girls Assembly Hall the following morning is the venue for the second Tribunal. Curtains drawn; bell silent. Only selected prefects, Order affiliates, and nominated students have been summoned. The rest go about their normal school routine mostly unaware of the tension in the hall.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsjujUw6K8
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pt3NVs20x
To her left: June and Mary. To her right: Kim, silent, unreadable. In front of her: the M.O.3 crate, now cleaned, re-sealed, chalk mark intact.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP96zJAwIf
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5R9OjcVIJQ
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaGfPHpXXf
The prefects stood still. No movement.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeWScZYyC5
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TFW8yLLC4
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwcPj3652h
Perfectly wrapped.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfamqq5XhV
She reached in.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsysgPXfn7t
Paused.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkLYXRc4HJ
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CtH5GEZmL
Gasps rang through the hall.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6mANgkUGU
Naomi stared at it, frozen.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h1JC2B4cy
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90q4eZZNyx
Mary stepped forward, too late.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGVecQyRwf
“There’s been a switch—!”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXTX7M5JD1
But the room had already turned.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6FGGfwjIK
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhptVtSAL1J
“Was this whole thing a setup?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPM8gmMOWa
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkMH4bGDvV
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHwujZFeFp
Naomi placed the card down without a word.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrc1RVttmP
The silence was suffocating.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfxQiwJinT
Then she said, slowly:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIV70rXG34
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCj7FpZedWP
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZOJQl2OP4
Kim whispered, “There were two?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6QW7t9OX0
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQtUkjpi1X
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrqj2u9Rvy
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9semHkNG08
“She’s not in control.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctxSViAGiM
“This was never about safety.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynsnEjXvtD
“Mercy’s winning.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBn6btacdZi
Suddenly—30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlLVtKzBIE
June stepped forward. Without asking.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolsnKyaxOz
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0xYEBwsdU
Gasps rang out.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAvCDoj9NT
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweX7oYoZ09
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyUaEYaeRf
One name:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9J0CkcXAsn
Ayo.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjpHuaklK9
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyT1V6QJy6f
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXreJ3Uh9Q6
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMOTvFop13
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77Ne4fFrxS
June turned to the room:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLBTnpp1oW
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gq5lKJHyc
Gasps deepened into murmurs.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUz2pwYx75P
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsaCy8YvOD
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSsnNOjOHg
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeG3LA4kJG2
Naomi finally nodded.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRfnBUHvou
She turned back to the room.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3vwRuckVs
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJ61JJahgQ
“The Tribunal is postponed.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmFTtZPusE
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FGNxyMI8G
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJu2bmG9TMd
That’s when Mary stepped forward.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrAGdYWz8f
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5N0npuHKO
Naomi turned.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDG9IVVA9gz
“Not now, Mary—”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU68K73hdZ
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmjiK9hoxF
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSkmw7Lo3P
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwNTTMtGZU
She unrolled the pages on the center table.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWs9wT5XxGk
Real ledger pages.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5swFe6DYk
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTWh76efyB
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCK42PIwnT7
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwY6CwzTne4
Invented correspondences.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVn07PkwcS
Mary flipped to one marked in red:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVeDA0WIYU
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuSyVc8QQu
Naomi stared at it.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BkVeSQdWo
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMkbfAz589
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq703b0tcd7
Then — finally:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2JSknJcOX
“Partially. The cover-ups happened. But I didn’t know about all of them. I let the fear run the archive. And I let Mercy control that fear.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkMM61f6fY
She stepped back from the lectern.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvheGjrkPdH
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybeo5hfNPX
Mary rolled the pages up again.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPigwIczPiX
“How can we trust that you are not trying to protect yourself. We need to decide what to do with this. Not the Order. Not even you, Naomi.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0FBv9X3jP
Naomi nodded.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwHFa4I7Ss
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡindcvHL8p0
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHau10ym1zE
As Mary rolled up the real ledger pages and Naomi sat in quiet resignation, a slow clap echoed from the back of the Tribunal Hall.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDoutWxbTG
All heads turned.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MoXQbj7IQ
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHqfSgO2fp
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCr6FGDESs
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslXwnSq75J
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdMD38l5pu
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1cfx7eIk1
“You covered for each other. You buried girls under perfect files and soft threats and fake silence. And now you want to be forgiven because someone else did worse?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcK42Jigh27
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFqfOK5pyB
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLlh78i86f
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFBNwJE3sb
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47UX4v6XnV
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNf4kIGQj5b
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYFvhN1YVP
She faced the remaining prefects.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58tX3uOhxa
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Eyo7haXGd
She turned.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6OXrWRai1
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqT7LzwGMB
And she walked out.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvY82m4gGOJ
No one followed.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqIyTuCVgf
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZum7DKqc7
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF6dIqAM3f
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpd1lsGI85
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMVWeHO5Um
Seline’s vow still echoed in the minds of those who remained. Naomi had retreated behind the archive walls. Mary and June spoke in hushed tones beside the crate.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcYwPewkca
Kim slipped outside.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mYEIXqxfX
She didn’t notice the breeze at first, or the swirl of jacaranda petals on the stone steps. Only when a shadow moved beside her did she exhale.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0exPSVBoY
Shiko.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbWrpJI82i
No words — just presence.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyKxymMvJL
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASyAcQalee
“You were right,” she whispered.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPk6uUqcKeE
“You didn’t flinch.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxv6KwOpyx
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfhrIo2IGi
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1tFdHojz2
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVae6j4vrf
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkObNUvwc4
Kim turned her face toward her.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38gD0NmbVu
“Why?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1ib14ABlX
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTrHGn5HeU
A pause.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESJEh7hR7A
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2SGNf1M8T
But then — her eyes flicked.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxHtflb0tj
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE66Mqbi1M
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0HuUFEkDx
Her breath caught.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvtHEpRUJM
She pulled back gently.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5OgpM0CnU
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcTGHeB34v
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CqHQvAWJg
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.
