“Card of Betrayal”62Please respect copyright.PENANAwSIYIQQt7d
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.62Please respect copyright.PENANAz5hTfVPQ69
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.62Please respect copyright.PENANAvN5L5HmVq4
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.62Please respect copyright.PENANACb3YqbEpLF
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAQAkSpzlMn8
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”62Please respect copyright.PENANA6q5fXV6A1a
The prefects stood still. No movement.62Please respect copyright.PENANABLYx3C0pHd
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAQR5EEIxCjI
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.62Please respect copyright.PENANAsTLriH6wVF
Perfectly wrapped.62Please respect copyright.PENANA5xc2bkbiKT
She reached in.62Please respect copyright.PENANAjdwPKlkTMc
Paused.62Please respect copyright.PENANAFidsVkOcCe
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKENjAb430U
Gasps rang through the hall.62Please respect copyright.PENANATbJjZuoyCX
Naomi stared at it, frozen.62Please respect copyright.PENANA7SqepsGJz9
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAcF4xSxDZSP
Mary stepped forward, too late.62Please respect copyright.PENANAb6vIXpiCR3
“There’s been a switch—!”62Please respect copyright.PENANAMImYOO1Hfs
But the room had already turned.62Please respect copyright.PENANAbapc3xPVQp
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAD52sqbZUQq
“Was this whole thing a setup?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAUJG0JNKMkI
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:62Please respect copyright.PENANAyUddGlIFnr
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAdYRrvAVuaR
Naomi placed the card down without a word.62Please respect copyright.PENANAElTchrwgmH
The silence was suffocating.62Please respect copyright.PENANAfzjw7JSB8U
Then she said, slowly:62Please respect copyright.PENANAyvxkkfssI0
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”62Please respect copyright.PENANA1wKM0VmQCZ
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.62Please respect copyright.PENANAFO2etHYv6c
Kim whispered, “There were two?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAclbSF9kTEy
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”62Please respect copyright.PENANA0661vUPNi5
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.62Please respect copyright.PENANAHnSXVqLs5W
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.62Please respect copyright.PENANAmleGI3mpEj
“She’s not in control.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAjCatcMEq5y
“This was never about safety.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAB26bkzS1UP
“Mercy’s winning.”62Please respect copyright.PENANANLYsOJhN2l
Suddenly—62Please respect copyright.PENANAQwKxie1VTw
June stepped forward. Without asking.62Please respect copyright.PENANAnvW2KxDcjz
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.62Please respect copyright.PENANAU853YlucND
Gasps rang out.62Please respect copyright.PENANAMWOWWofXfz
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:62Please respect copyright.PENANAqR5sp2IjVN
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.62Please respect copyright.PENANAX4dPmjcdPh
One name:62Please respect copyright.PENANA6h4Cm4FMt7
Ayo.62Please respect copyright.PENANAljqejOTgDp
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”62Please respect copyright.PENANAypx3EO5t4n
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”62Please respect copyright.PENANA5Z8NC6DUMz
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAubmmsv47Pq
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.62Please respect copyright.PENANAcTAeOGTEWA
June turned to the room:62Please respect copyright.PENANAejt1Yjl7ut
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAT8FIWFmSiV
Gasps deepened into murmurs.62Please respect copyright.PENANAI3adu9VlV8
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAoH7GnzUDLV
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.62Please respect copyright.PENANAlVRSFeqF8S
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAQLAmpMiDBY
Naomi finally nodded.62Please respect copyright.PENANAnA7jHcEsqD
She turned back to the room.62Please respect copyright.PENANAZczPNrKE6w
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.62Please respect copyright.PENANAaP2oIIWbyS
“The Tribunal is postponed.”62Please respect copyright.PENANA2b4Fx4dNgs
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.62Please respect copyright.PENANA1PuzV1FMpA
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.62Please respect copyright.PENANAxZ0Rjy8YKU
That’s when Mary stepped forward.62Please respect copyright.PENANAlxSHvK096n
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKk7ap3ihLf
Naomi turned.62Please respect copyright.PENANAo7azfWuiUV
“Not now, Mary—”62Please respect copyright.PENANARgyueJ2nTl
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.62Please respect copyright.PENANADYqbFVeMda
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.62Please respect copyright.PENANApWgWbJpduP
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAiJzYc1sXTh
She unrolled the pages on the center table.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKbI7hToXGk
Real ledger pages.62Please respect copyright.PENANAhlC2FuvCcP
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.62Please respect copyright.PENANAg1ze9ibP5f
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.62Please respect copyright.PENANAsto8mPh2Eo
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.62Please respect copyright.PENANAIP1j07S1n3
Invented correspondences.62Please respect copyright.PENANAZLeqWZtOnC
Mary flipped to one marked in red:62Please respect copyright.PENANA4TNV8KQ6HN
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAHOPNTjI7eg
Naomi stared at it.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKwBhhBKBnE
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAwV3fusNfxk
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXYMw51UhSh
Then — finally:62Please respect copyright.PENANAfAZR3DIk6C
“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.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAYvuL0xdLeA
She stepped back from the lectern.62Please respect copyright.PENANAp5fHKxpYKO
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAjcl1LeVi55
Mary rolled the pages up again.62Please respect copyright.PENANAGtecNf2545
“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.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAhq4YSWoMuN
Naomi nodded.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwxD9JdHTbl
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.62Please respect copyright.PENANAUhvEyXwH5t
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAWaEH1zMRyc
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.62Please respect copyright.PENANACcaUZIPstP
All heads turned.62Please respect copyright.PENANAgyPavqxUR5
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.62Please respect copyright.PENANAVBtiL3fV5T
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAyyGZ3tCmmH
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”62Please respect copyright.PENANASbkuaU9igI
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”62Please respect copyright.PENANANsE09uCOPW
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwDBjn2T02d
“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?”62Please respect copyright.PENANACw2bCGcXUJ
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.62Please respect copyright.PENANAa9Px877mTv
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.62Please respect copyright.PENANADL293e37VB
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKr8x4dokhu
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAvnkjuAMNO0
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.62Please respect copyright.PENANAEEhf0REKtH
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAaKVgxayMXc
She faced the remaining prefects.62Please respect copyright.PENANAW3HSRbcl2L
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAcvQDz67ld1
She turned.62Please respect copyright.PENANA1UCoLQdmSN
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAa4aQF4oKpD
And she walked out.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwEbcusaUnD
No one followed.62Please respect copyright.PENANAZS04jqOIvd
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.62Please respect copyright.PENANAeBvyEhSNhU
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.62Please respect copyright.PENANArQUQvLI2CV
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****62Please respect copyright.PENANAbm3DQOvwDq
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.62Please respect copyright.PENANArIiqABBJvd
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.62Please respect copyright.PENANALCNyZffTJK
Kim slipped outside.62Please respect copyright.PENANA8NzU6LW4xk
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.62Please respect copyright.PENANAnpgyBip4U5
Shiko.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwmfzG9HXR3
No words — just presence.62Please respect copyright.PENANAfu9T2ye1HC
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.62Please respect copyright.PENANAQyXl1hDVnc
“You were right,” she whispered.62Please respect copyright.PENANArVzJskOw2M
“You didn’t flinch.”62Please respect copyright.PENANA2UBpsPXkFZ
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAV0s6hFOKyA
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:62Please respect copyright.PENANAgKWt9usOTN
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”62Please respect copyright.PENANASAJflOAx7J
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAgnVebEpoDf
Kim turned her face toward her.62Please respect copyright.PENANAfER6ngykri
“Why?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAl5yWBuMAwo
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAIEchQwOGYz
A pause.62Please respect copyright.PENANAflPUbHHzC7
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.62Please respect copyright.PENANANJVcIFSSCn
But then — her eyes flicked.62Please respect copyright.PENANAxME82bJ7GE
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.62Please respect copyright.PENANAkwMjarBxRl
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.62Please respect copyright.PENANAdHsOuaGy8j
Her breath caught.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXi6VjffikB
She pulled back gently.62Please respect copyright.PENANAfKB67ha1fi
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAww0dEMvmnc
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAOrbU3JGpPp
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.