“Card of Betrayal”61Please respect copyright.PENANALVoIuyICu1
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANA6JK5NxQC7s
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.61Please respect copyright.PENANA1QLBFBcfLC
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANA30d20IXiaF
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAHGWftUIds3
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAaiaYWgRNyZ
The prefects stood still. No movement.61Please respect copyright.PENANAMXb9HvgyOg
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAPXNZTouovd
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.61Please respect copyright.PENANAmtoi1HW9uw
Perfectly wrapped.61Please respect copyright.PENANAsYbMfBPFkX
She reached in.61Please respect copyright.PENANAS67O8t5DNK
Paused.61Please respect copyright.PENANAbaPckaqLvO
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.61Please respect copyright.PENANAt4mcVwtOAW
Gasps rang through the hall.61Please respect copyright.PENANAZgb4h0k08M
Naomi stared at it, frozen.61Please respect copyright.PENANAliauQ60Pi4
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAtKXDPCAV7Q
Mary stepped forward, too late.61Please respect copyright.PENANAzXwKOpM4hH
“There’s been a switch—!”61Please respect copyright.PENANA3ZhwlDsXCT
But the room had already turned.61Please respect copyright.PENANAnFOBs9HNZ6
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAQRUPjF2lKN
“Was this whole thing a setup?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAqfnT7gOFOV
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:61Please respect copyright.PENANAV25MatRnhI
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAZAF0oUEMQq
Naomi placed the card down without a word.61Please respect copyright.PENANAezFflSzJkt
The silence was suffocating.61Please respect copyright.PENANAXm572kry3Z
Then she said, slowly:61Please respect copyright.PENANAlJr8mX9Dtw
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA1bRQLYiT1H
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.61Please respect copyright.PENANAjAopyc2h5W
Kim whispered, “There were two?”61Please respect copyright.PENANArLtCX290L8
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAl6yLPTD3H2
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.61Please respect copyright.PENANAy0mrUwQB2X
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.61Please respect copyright.PENANAUwE8toWze2
“She’s not in control.”61Please respect copyright.PENANALz7UuRY7aj
“This was never about safety.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAJouWRJM5qu
“Mercy’s winning.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAr7rl8NADVK
Suddenly—61Please respect copyright.PENANAJsOvStPHWf
June stepped forward. Without asking.61Please respect copyright.PENANApgEc6axI3e
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.61Please respect copyright.PENANAoDriHv5NWa
Gasps rang out.61Please respect copyright.PENANADFSBIbX3R1
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:61Please respect copyright.PENANAoq7qnJ0x89
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.61Please respect copyright.PENANAyo5zbGZAor
One name:61Please respect copyright.PENANAz5SfVaKpP6
Ayo.61Please respect copyright.PENANA6FAdH5wRyz
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”61Please respect copyright.PENANA2AKSIIwzlU
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAM2mBPAT0RH
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAqabmAcFWBx
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.61Please respect copyright.PENANAnfMRD0XVLJ
June turned to the room:61Please respect copyright.PENANAtNaO1241bZ
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAxgajoTNvvE
Gasps deepened into murmurs.61Please respect copyright.PENANAb0llS7fNXW
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA9qkC6LpaKQ
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.61Please respect copyright.PENANANLfoP2YFqx
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAtora64YfAb
Naomi finally nodded.61Please respect copyright.PENANAW1nKgwmPV8
She turned back to the room.61Please respect copyright.PENANAHeV95wWXGd
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.61Please respect copyright.PENANA02Wol0HHIR
“The Tribunal is postponed.”61Please respect copyright.PENANANvYZ1datbU
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.61Please respect copyright.PENANAXUaXqYRyma
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.61Please respect copyright.PENANAMqnAZ3O1ZP
That’s when Mary stepped forward.61Please respect copyright.PENANASFpKxxrlNU
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.61Please respect copyright.PENANAsgFzg3Sj7N
Naomi turned.61Please respect copyright.PENANALTBTootWhi
“Not now, Mary—”61Please respect copyright.PENANA77OqL855xX
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.61Please respect copyright.PENANA2n17muIj4k
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.61Please respect copyright.PENANAQsKd7541JP
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAaitC7mbeit
She unrolled the pages on the center table.61Please respect copyright.PENANAmNQyZlZ4Mk
Real ledger pages.61Please respect copyright.PENANAx1S3qDTZZb
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.61Please respect copyright.PENANAps8zPeQOkB
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.61Please respect copyright.PENANA6cet5WST3G
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.61Please respect copyright.PENANAJ32n0Yh7Zj
Invented correspondences.61Please respect copyright.PENANAb8KTCA0AEu
Mary flipped to one marked in red:61Please respect copyright.PENANANWgWPrwyvw
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”61Please respect copyright.PENANARPisi2YLFr
Naomi stared at it.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWAWAYHLIL3
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAkODfYfoPjn
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.61Please respect copyright.PENANAJEGloNkeI8
Then — finally:61Please respect copyright.PENANABMaHdDAhs4
“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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAgtrKZg4N3H
She stepped back from the lectern.61Please respect copyright.PENANAK2k3dknzUL
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAjMuW0x2Qcm
Mary rolled the pages up again.61Please respect copyright.PENANAc5E60PJRdH
“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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA7wyas5nwuV
Naomi nodded.61Please respect copyright.PENANAiCsIkwAqMf
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.61Please respect copyright.PENANAVBNtgFJDOU
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAqdQZikhBVg
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANACTl6bnPNDE
All heads turned.61Please respect copyright.PENANA1Tma3Dg43K
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.61Please respect copyright.PENANA8mPK7PQefh
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”61Please respect copyright.PENANA6OPXgwHUKB
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”61Please respect copyright.PENANADOr6UtrRuO
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAC6mPzXE3ey
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWDapYn6e0v
“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?”61Please respect copyright.PENANA6inniEHkcU
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.61Please respect copyright.PENANATQzs1q4k2U
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.61Please respect copyright.PENANAM49oljwUnd
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.61Please respect copyright.PENANAeUj8phtYNv
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”61Please respect copyright.PENANATFGKWVD8kd
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.61Please respect copyright.PENANA4CKWg5l9Q1
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”61Please respect copyright.PENANANqM7YgnHzQ
She faced the remaining prefects.61Please respect copyright.PENANAHIPi5SW3my
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA6WK6PbViZC
She turned.61Please respect copyright.PENANAuxfE0DIQKj
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAm9OCfeklnz
And she walked out.61Please respect copyright.PENANAAdLrCId2tG
No one followed.61Please respect copyright.PENANAkTw9S2FnGY
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.61Please respect copyright.PENANA54wuYF3w06
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.61Please respect copyright.PENANAirPA2kBSNy
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****61Please respect copyright.PENANA4KEdDWaQIE
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.61Please respect copyright.PENANAY2tR2ludrx
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAfrFpcJXWuc
Kim slipped outside.61Please respect copyright.PENANABODfiXP2ob
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANApGt35Dsz4q
Shiko.61Please respect copyright.PENANAuTCvujBlpa
No words — just presence.61Please respect copyright.PENANAU2zbEieafL
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.61Please respect copyright.PENANAilUFsc78HL
“You were right,” she whispered.61Please respect copyright.PENANAPXk4EbvgS5
“You didn’t flinch.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAGR1DkD2thQ
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA4VVEgy2Szk
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:61Please respect copyright.PENANAEKJKl5Ctzc
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAPlslvE9DJM
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAdq5Znl6O95
Kim turned her face toward her.61Please respect copyright.PENANAMdmvDL4tZf
“Why?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAh6HHYeDDli
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAM9PXhhLlgj
A pause.61Please respect copyright.PENANADpfpVyMl6H
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.61Please respect copyright.PENANAnFTOQLubbU
But then — her eyes flicked.61Please respect copyright.PENANAtnJdP1bzJS
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.61Please respect copyright.PENANAOr5SIp6Wue
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWk8fJElbnR
Her breath caught.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWswCdbbe85
She pulled back gently.61Please respect copyright.PENANAkmHpPPtOQ9
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAELUFYpsk5p
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAx4hGcJsO7G
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.