“Card of Betrayal”65Please respect copyright.PENANAXLbXCEJ2zT
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.65Please respect copyright.PENANA8UtghKpdGn
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.65Please respect copyright.PENANA6ylsQV8TMq
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.65Please respect copyright.PENANApKgcJ9qcwU
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAUGBBcNftbF
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAFLg7mnil0r
The prefects stood still. No movement.65Please respect copyright.PENANAgRdlgOxsrd
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAFpMVUf62NE
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.65Please respect copyright.PENANAEtz2dKx4tK
Perfectly wrapped.65Please respect copyright.PENANA4jP4RVKzQ0
She reached in.65Please respect copyright.PENANAcmTFEkQ7GE
Paused.65Please respect copyright.PENANAnC0ABT8LsL
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.65Please respect copyright.PENANA3wGJMiAYNX
Gasps rang through the hall.65Please respect copyright.PENANAr9yj1ceuTa
Naomi stared at it, frozen.65Please respect copyright.PENANA9j70egOuEy
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA2nPCH2VRzR
Mary stepped forward, too late.65Please respect copyright.PENANAT80SyVEP0X
“There’s been a switch—!”65Please respect copyright.PENANAFYSCmDf5HG
But the room had already turned.65Please respect copyright.PENANA7Rp1ZGJcV4
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAAu7urvd3VK
“Was this whole thing a setup?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAsyX2Opy40n
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:65Please respect copyright.PENANAN9Eqd7cNZi
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAikhHo0u8Ln
Naomi placed the card down without a word.65Please respect copyright.PENANA3KTc8Jcwld
The silence was suffocating.65Please respect copyright.PENANAxSv924GdRJ
Then she said, slowly:65Please respect copyright.PENANAoZ2Cs33ZXV
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAaAwPC8GKXX
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.65Please respect copyright.PENANAqC1orCN5Ip
Kim whispered, “There were two?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAQytB2l81UH
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAz81B5i9zTh
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.65Please respect copyright.PENANA5oNqK6sT1s
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.65Please respect copyright.PENANAlJo3qARZPa
“She’s not in control.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAwNC3TlMiae
“This was never about safety.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAp6Kxj2YdWM
“Mercy’s winning.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAikkOwSuRXY
Suddenly—65Please respect copyright.PENANASCr6nFD6JB
June stepped forward. Without asking.65Please respect copyright.PENANAv4PAxhuCVB
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.65Please respect copyright.PENANAq0LcRZHcBz
Gasps rang out.65Please respect copyright.PENANA0NgMsMcN7F
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:65Please respect copyright.PENANASFXxqix4Os
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.65Please respect copyright.PENANAbM7h9UB6Bz
One name:65Please respect copyright.PENANAIhtaEnCQQt
Ayo.65Please respect copyright.PENANAJKCxxQYHd0
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”65Please respect copyright.PENANASDV3GzNPMM
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAPzpJaIsa40
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”65Please respect copyright.PENANASK7ssDlfwR
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.65Please respect copyright.PENANASkvwldP5UX
June turned to the room:65Please respect copyright.PENANAsZwZUdrglw
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAoSMimjrbe8
Gasps deepened into murmurs.65Please respect copyright.PENANATnKlFZANMC
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAKVkZtT3AfQ
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.65Please respect copyright.PENANAsDgrCbk8IT
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAqr6st4n0fG
Naomi finally nodded.65Please respect copyright.PENANAf9wPi7tnLR
She turned back to the room.65Please respect copyright.PENANAOs2O5dq6QW
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.65Please respect copyright.PENANAYwEpFfqXuG
“The Tribunal is postponed.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAOfjnaWbTne
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.65Please respect copyright.PENANAyQdLIhdFaO
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.65Please respect copyright.PENANAG6wz6X9maO
That’s when Mary stepped forward.65Please respect copyright.PENANAU2iTlWG5VA
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.65Please respect copyright.PENANA3LbD5K8mRo
Naomi turned.65Please respect copyright.PENANAR69F5nv3zo
“Not now, Mary—”65Please respect copyright.PENANACitxSWX0tW
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.65Please respect copyright.PENANArXV0Cmi5oM
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.65Please respect copyright.PENANA7Bx5ATkE9b
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAnXk99D6DKc
She unrolled the pages on the center table.65Please respect copyright.PENANAoEPqrk7DOF
Real ledger pages.65Please respect copyright.PENANALOnWF8aQiV
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.65Please respect copyright.PENANAL6FJsHAiAH
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.65Please respect copyright.PENANAOA2NJhbmHR
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.65Please respect copyright.PENANArucrWlvyL9
Invented correspondences.65Please respect copyright.PENANAhyeFoluj72
Mary flipped to one marked in red:65Please respect copyright.PENANAZb8V0wIE1v
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAMtmOwK732N
Naomi stared at it.65Please respect copyright.PENANAVHnw42rSKp
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAmHNQFIdJ3T
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.65Please respect copyright.PENANA6n9SNGDQsz
Then — finally:65Please respect copyright.PENANAf437UYQtFt
“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.”65Please respect copyright.PENANArt7LQqgp2k
She stepped back from the lectern.65Please respect copyright.PENANAIP3NoJi0tz
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAfQJcBaWFc7
Mary rolled the pages up again.65Please respect copyright.PENANAswYGbIREyF
“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.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAXMuIOe3MXo
Naomi nodded.65Please respect copyright.PENANAURAyHvaQFE
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.65Please respect copyright.PENANA9s8mDc3qI3
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”65Please respect copyright.PENANApBtbT9RK4e
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.65Please respect copyright.PENANAw0ZSVb3iKb
All heads turned.65Please respect copyright.PENANANXxoj4emxY
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.65Please respect copyright.PENANA14Hqw8O9Km
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAQBIXGoUQ4n
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”65Please respect copyright.PENANAKvSdU3ZZUG
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAiIFLaYEJVK
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.65Please respect copyright.PENANAgEPi6tbu89
“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?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAGwUuqVecby
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.65Please respect copyright.PENANAlhsp1eVEff
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.65Please respect copyright.PENANA9ppe6jq0wk
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.65Please respect copyright.PENANAIDewLCtUKX
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAtaU32CHkjB
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.65Please respect copyright.PENANAjHHjfFj5S5
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”65Please respect copyright.PENANACoRHJbGOzj
She faced the remaining prefects.65Please respect copyright.PENANAkAzkH8sRUv
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAs3gO7iOhpv
She turned.65Please respect copyright.PENANAEp7CmUfIxP
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAPpDkDkI12X
And she walked out.65Please respect copyright.PENANABKruXVE19Z
No one followed.65Please respect copyright.PENANA8UI7aX4Xa4
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.65Please respect copyright.PENANAy8kSCWAxX0
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.65Please respect copyright.PENANAEpSaArVXVf
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****65Please respect copyright.PENANAiu2TC8Aety
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.65Please respect copyright.PENANAotWTKOUgdg
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.65Please respect copyright.PENANAKZP49En4T3
Kim slipped outside.65Please respect copyright.PENANAaOB8ZYlqLM
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.65Please respect copyright.PENANAkgxQS8LKlT
Shiko.65Please respect copyright.PENANAZp4QBq0ui6
No words — just presence.65Please respect copyright.PENANAV2nvuFXifM
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.65Please respect copyright.PENANACHnx20cPHU
“You were right,” she whispered.65Please respect copyright.PENANAhZsT9ohh90
“You didn’t flinch.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA4rk6GVs6i3
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAxAZTyUdIbm
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:65Please respect copyright.PENANAoYGQQRVM4I
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAJea8DMBcco
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAgHmAxc3jRw
Kim turned her face toward her.65Please respect copyright.PENANAdmjUDesFte
“Why?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAhUeRKJurYD
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAADsonrkp3w
A pause.65Please respect copyright.PENANAoyICHsZFSR
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.65Please respect copyright.PENANASYucnsttl1
But then — her eyes flicked.65Please respect copyright.PENANARjouyg3Won
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.65Please respect copyright.PENANAhDVMvw2zPQ
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.65Please respect copyright.PENANA3E3f8QS95P
Her breath caught.65Please respect copyright.PENANA9g6wyUjGoH
She pulled back gently.65Please respect copyright.PENANAczAaELTflt
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAiSJNR3Vli0
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”65Please respect copyright.PENANACowsE0Ipgr
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.