“Card of Betrayal”49Please respect copyright.PENANANopWm2MFKB
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.49Please respect copyright.PENANAZVOEACAty0
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.49Please respect copyright.PENANAm9G6FbVMLE
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.49Please respect copyright.PENANAAKJBuhBGqm
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”49Please respect copyright.PENANArUipkJ3JYM
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”49Please respect copyright.PENANADmYJSL6HBS
The prefects stood still. No movement.49Please respect copyright.PENANAv0YipTL8M8
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAuYG0S7jGCL
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.49Please respect copyright.PENANAoOy6VvgeQY
Perfectly wrapped.49Please respect copyright.PENANA8Cf81vrXgL
She reached in.49Please respect copyright.PENANAADrVgL60uq
Paused.49Please respect copyright.PENANAv2f3WRi1dy
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.49Please respect copyright.PENANAZ8wf0HO4Fn
Gasps rang through the hall.49Please respect copyright.PENANAqz3KCIUwd4
Naomi stared at it, frozen.49Please respect copyright.PENANABXHDfz5w0d
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAGCJP1DTJDr
Mary stepped forward, too late.49Please respect copyright.PENANAJTKlOgm9RY
“There’s been a switch—!”49Please respect copyright.PENANAqZoXEqfuIY
But the room had already turned.49Please respect copyright.PENANAOs0CdUE0Vk
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAe9pleFmYbN
“Was this whole thing a setup?”49Please respect copyright.PENANASjzqCtEsmw
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:49Please respect copyright.PENANABhP92iw6ds
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAPI4xagxfRj
Naomi placed the card down without a word.49Please respect copyright.PENANA79gEK5D6S2
The silence was suffocating.49Please respect copyright.PENANAJJDjhjeDGw
Then she said, slowly:49Please respect copyright.PENANAvQIM53DE0I
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAAEWMoJpqCi
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.49Please respect copyright.PENANA1yonhM4Fcp
Kim whispered, “There were two?”49Please respect copyright.PENANA3IyovmqIzI
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”49Please respect copyright.PENANA5srwOjMqUE
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.49Please respect copyright.PENANApN98OEpiIv
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.49Please respect copyright.PENANA9GYW173PvP
“She’s not in control.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAHqH3Dh1D3e
“This was never about safety.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAhEUDIAcciq
“Mercy’s winning.”49Please respect copyright.PENANA3OBfu49VeP
Suddenly—49Please respect copyright.PENANAmiug0gTHUq
June stepped forward. Without asking.49Please respect copyright.PENANAeLZ1lchxrC
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.49Please respect copyright.PENANAosOL5Kn8Tl
Gasps rang out.49Please respect copyright.PENANARsygCDRi20
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:49Please respect copyright.PENANAgc8f4fvuw1
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.49Please respect copyright.PENANAT6F71rsA4F
One name:49Please respect copyright.PENANAF7qUJm6M96
Ayo.49Please respect copyright.PENANAQd3F0BRpn5
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”49Please respect copyright.PENANA1cviTk6o6p
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAFauItX5vUj
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAhZgIsBY4io
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.49Please respect copyright.PENANAfJXjOz3Fhr
June turned to the room:49Please respect copyright.PENANATuDrsUka5f
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAxlc22eINnP
Gasps deepened into murmurs.49Please respect copyright.PENANAnPHGOvrr41
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAsXoxoj1hEv
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.49Please respect copyright.PENANAiBiVUON7nb
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAGjwdwZqLIw
Naomi finally nodded.49Please respect copyright.PENANAngiGpg2mvu
She turned back to the room.49Please respect copyright.PENANAvQ8tvZ2mTD
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.49Please respect copyright.PENANASmF0BBWfsv
“The Tribunal is postponed.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAzmQeEJEetv
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.49Please respect copyright.PENANAA325wlp62S
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.49Please respect copyright.PENANAA8Ph13hgkM
That’s when Mary stepped forward.49Please respect copyright.PENANArNz9LKg17N
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.49Please respect copyright.PENANAEpGOlpQnJb
Naomi turned.49Please respect copyright.PENANAp6KyrkomuZ
“Not now, Mary—”49Please respect copyright.PENANALPwnmnvmd8
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.49Please respect copyright.PENANAgNhpR1lAP7
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.49Please respect copyright.PENANA3TGlH2pmwR
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAFZ1gYXuQsl
She unrolled the pages on the center table.49Please respect copyright.PENANAOaQ01IjYxv
Real ledger pages.49Please respect copyright.PENANAxOutGRZVdA
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.49Please respect copyright.PENANADjAaxSUEcF
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.49Please respect copyright.PENANAPey1JN1AlK
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.49Please respect copyright.PENANAIaxzsvWIHk
Invented correspondences.49Please respect copyright.PENANAtPzVEG1Y8y
Mary flipped to one marked in red:49Please respect copyright.PENANAcSHtIIATpi
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAGu9riG5Sfq
Naomi stared at it.49Please respect copyright.PENANAMzxx2dtEuJ
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAtrdIZ7qICZ
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.49Please respect copyright.PENANAxBJ2517bRq
Then — finally:49Please respect copyright.PENANAKRfB6nhHko
“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.”49Please respect copyright.PENANADXxVlHksoH
She stepped back from the lectern.49Please respect copyright.PENANALt3GV941cI
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAE3esGtsNBe
Mary rolled the pages up again.49Please respect copyright.PENANAqsvgeL6MDS
“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.”49Please respect copyright.PENANA64zvORJv5y
Naomi nodded.49Please respect copyright.PENANADUWnLTmz9z
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.49Please respect copyright.PENANAzasgzLrmji
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”49Please respect copyright.PENANADBv6B3HjVQ
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.49Please respect copyright.PENANAlrYXN1tNB0
All heads turned.49Please respect copyright.PENANAK3wTSxJld0
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.49Please respect copyright.PENANApBcX1rlR82
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAHLVLegVODI
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”49Please respect copyright.PENANATVFp3JlaZL
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAUpeXhzNfjl
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.49Please respect copyright.PENANA31yDCdtyLU
“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?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAu9EdVTvBBi
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.49Please respect copyright.PENANAChmnAj9kfW
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.49Please respect copyright.PENANATZyMmR8zQF
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.49Please respect copyright.PENANAPRheCUyuJa
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAjtNTfJ6j1d
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.49Please respect copyright.PENANAXluwPEgy0d
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”49Please respect copyright.PENANA3z7JvIxgiE
She faced the remaining prefects.49Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0sn4sbRw5
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”49Please respect copyright.PENANADVaQPV0oR0
She turned.49Please respect copyright.PENANADBi9aeJV4V
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAHqWFtW4frZ
And she walked out.49Please respect copyright.PENANAmCBS6OMFr2
No one followed.49Please respect copyright.PENANAcqKyJ7HdOx
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.49Please respect copyright.PENANA815ijDeFQM
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.49Please respect copyright.PENANAy75cn7suoo
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****49Please respect copyright.PENANAIk1eAtP0lA
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.49Please respect copyright.PENANAFRp1rfv60R
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.49Please respect copyright.PENANAk1Zva5lknN
Kim slipped outside.49Please respect copyright.PENANADbKxatGTg0
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.49Please respect copyright.PENANACyIBCL6BUZ
Shiko.49Please respect copyright.PENANAKe6peG5KLW
No words — just presence.49Please respect copyright.PENANArZyHlyrxO6
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.49Please respect copyright.PENANAeh0VXKAdI0
“You were right,” she whispered.49Please respect copyright.PENANAsjbBTglg9Y
“You didn’t flinch.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAS4uXcNPPbo
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAgWbbccUFSs
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:49Please respect copyright.PENANAUftOyFumqa
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAKz3jduYH5L
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”49Please respect copyright.PENANACDtwsIhuMB
Kim turned her face toward her.49Please respect copyright.PENANA0Y0udvPHgL
“Why?”49Please respect copyright.PENANAvnwEFJQSAG
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAqfiKGNQXLO
A pause.49Please respect copyright.PENANAKb9meaE4ND
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.49Please respect copyright.PENANAv9tzLxRz6V
But then — her eyes flicked.49Please respect copyright.PENANA3oEcDIc0bF
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.49Please respect copyright.PENANAT2yfKZcKqJ
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.49Please respect copyright.PENANANEmPCOyz6U
Her breath caught.49Please respect copyright.PENANAaeemfRCzwL
She pulled back gently.49Please respect copyright.PENANA4lpbKAV2Yr
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAKyzQt6CEbR
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”49Please respect copyright.PENANAeFL1eyd1Je
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.