“Card of Betrayal”60Please respect copyright.PENANAJLN4wVaGEc
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAuDe0qgNFNi
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.60Please respect copyright.PENANA18m1nGP4hR
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAT9MLIjJ9QB
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAHMoTXE7It7
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAmxHllQ3mtK
The prefects stood still. No movement.60Please respect copyright.PENANAH90QIpm6xt
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAn8ahkYRutN
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.60Please respect copyright.PENANAdX17JxI5k0
Perfectly wrapped.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8XscC74Jfv
She reached in.60Please respect copyright.PENANAb6DSlP1TQw
Paused.60Please respect copyright.PENANAFsWEkLREeI
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.60Please respect copyright.PENANAi98i763nRx
Gasps rang through the hall.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8Uqxem9r1u
Naomi stared at it, frozen.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnb6OX1tivL
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA6FaQrpzk5G
Mary stepped forward, too late.60Please respect copyright.PENANAPlKWRFfCcl
“There’s been a switch—!”60Please respect copyright.PENANACBWd7Kq4ZW
But the room had already turned.60Please respect copyright.PENANA48b8X0hbez
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAUeAaP6nmCO
“Was this whole thing a setup?”60Please respect copyright.PENANApjvGacERfq
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:60Please respect copyright.PENANAfnga3cR1VN
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAu72qbFRmAv
Naomi placed the card down without a word.60Please respect copyright.PENANAQFbcvad9lV
The silence was suffocating.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnWj9ivqRxn
Then she said, slowly:60Please respect copyright.PENANA5nQDzowOQx
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA7tgNjSU6Nl
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnJ3o2pgKKa
Kim whispered, “There were two?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAX21hOuGv42
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAaNScNKCJzK
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.60Please respect copyright.PENANAY3c1k6oLof
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.60Please respect copyright.PENANAvPDYs3Pa5E
“She’s not in control.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAjPCsQSLmom
“This was never about safety.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAmBa9JymE8u
“Mercy’s winning.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAHfRtugP3OI
Suddenly—60Please respect copyright.PENANABrIQfeZTCR
June stepped forward. Without asking.60Please respect copyright.PENANA7KTVPFy7gl
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.60Please respect copyright.PENANA1GTEVAtbR2
Gasps rang out.60Please respect copyright.PENANAgdG3nfK6BG
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:60Please respect copyright.PENANA1TMre1J8I5
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.60Please respect copyright.PENANAzDGygSt4NI
One name:60Please respect copyright.PENANAJ9H0qQOJUO
Ayo.60Please respect copyright.PENANARAj6CGlS4X
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”60Please respect copyright.PENANAAn5SpMwB2q
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAlkrrEDW1Tb
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA7O15G6vEPA
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.60Please respect copyright.PENANAbGIzvS2yGe
June turned to the room:60Please respect copyright.PENANA3u3banl1px
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAYNi9oMJjWK
Gasps deepened into murmurs.60Please respect copyright.PENANAVFnHQpOTVK
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”60Please respect copyright.PENANATVwgLdAJR4
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.60Please respect copyright.PENANAiJjMJiNh50
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA6zW0TNGASk
Naomi finally nodded.60Please respect copyright.PENANAdPAU1SydXH
She turned back to the room.60Please respect copyright.PENANAu70XAv29vL
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.60Please respect copyright.PENANA3CKxAQkuBo
“The Tribunal is postponed.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAm2uQfQ7IzA
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.60Please respect copyright.PENANABznMg1oyXF
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.60Please respect copyright.PENANAC0S8y7EzPd
That’s when Mary stepped forward.60Please respect copyright.PENANAtXrmhHqF4F
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.60Please respect copyright.PENANAGhTnWvchgv
Naomi turned.60Please respect copyright.PENANA3GOZkeE1eT
“Not now, Mary—”60Please respect copyright.PENANAo3QWa4PcwR
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.60Please respect copyright.PENANAKpyF5X1xcm
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnD0XIWhQsV
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAbESJ6B9tjt
She unrolled the pages on the center table.60Please respect copyright.PENANAfy0JhTigM6
Real ledger pages.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnIipbzCEeh
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnOFqLVFFbu
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.60Please respect copyright.PENANACwribGbTSU
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.60Please respect copyright.PENANAltlHebcgTg
Invented correspondences.60Please respect copyright.PENANAY7vzeG40sF
Mary flipped to one marked in red:60Please respect copyright.PENANACmRWflPLE5
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA9oaUxIVUrJ
Naomi stared at it.60Please respect copyright.PENANANIao9JP192
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAmwQKQrfBRA
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.60Please respect copyright.PENANAOxISIyvrKt
Then — finally:60Please respect copyright.PENANAd6jHSIOy4A
“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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAWup3ZpiXYo
She stepped back from the lectern.60Please respect copyright.PENANArIDgJUuxjr
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA5gwUcj5r3h
Mary rolled the pages up again.60Please respect copyright.PENANArf1yB20w1b
“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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAAl5oXivvQb
Naomi nodded.60Please respect copyright.PENANAIA1MpWvAm7
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.60Please respect copyright.PENANAkVOwXhUypB
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAPuPFMusvYQ
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAMjEMwMQ7Yl
All heads turned.60Please respect copyright.PENANAY1B08rm21W
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.60Please respect copyright.PENANAenx1xcoVZk
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAoaXk77eugp
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”60Please respect copyright.PENANAPMHVrYu1hP
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAynS3w2y5sK
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.60Please respect copyright.PENANAU3DgSX8lQu
“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?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAGEMiX9XND7
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.60Please respect copyright.PENANAYAZluVELH8
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.60Please respect copyright.PENANAmqJvG06IIQ
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.60Please respect copyright.PENANApJLUFnBgNN
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”60Please respect copyright.PENANArdiIBRcPRU
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.60Please respect copyright.PENANAD2K8lnZSLQ
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAvqow7qYOgX
She faced the remaining prefects.60Please respect copyright.PENANAiKpA1FMNuV
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAiRj1wudt7X
She turned.60Please respect copyright.PENANAL9ILIsYsoB
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”60Please respect copyright.PENANArQB6XvCe2g
And she walked out.60Please respect copyright.PENANAmCwY4mFrXx
No one followed.60Please respect copyright.PENANAEVyQEbQLDM
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.60Please respect copyright.PENANArudI8R6gmU
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.60Please respect copyright.PENANAGa4pzJDGlx
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****60Please respect copyright.PENANApNGjF3Tc0x
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.60Please respect copyright.PENANAwW6Y6QcobK
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAIaupf1BgL2
Kim slipped outside.60Please respect copyright.PENANA5mGOqscSPX
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAymaMJgyKrD
Shiko.60Please respect copyright.PENANAOpChPfeZVp
No words — just presence.60Please respect copyright.PENANAWZO9ee1y7i
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.60Please respect copyright.PENANA9ia3fyQ67I
“You were right,” she whispered.60Please respect copyright.PENANAYopBocXmAI
“You didn’t flinch.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAdwVvMQqJkc
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAIUB3jUvdh5
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:60Please respect copyright.PENANAQ9yU63dhUT
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAWIeC3SQUCz
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAWzjeGaYTQn
Kim turned her face toward her.60Please respect copyright.PENANACT0lOwLxtF
“Why?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAq6sVwHYiR4
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAzlSpxbubH9
A pause.60Please respect copyright.PENANAVFPBNWl7lg
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.60Please respect copyright.PENANAFFIZuDEvNS
But then — her eyes flicked.60Please respect copyright.PENANAOoR1h8PfGg
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.60Please respect copyright.PENANA81mFuw0YRT
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.60Please respect copyright.PENANAjTON2dXEQf
Her breath caught.60Please respect copyright.PENANAdnFgHcF0u2
She pulled back gently.60Please respect copyright.PENANAfj1k0funwv
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAqA4T8VzeXI
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”60Please respect copyright.PENANArVQ2m4xhz3
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.