“Card of Betrayal”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSM6FjRn3B
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZWHGRiGgF
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvxYKmJfvS
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARSA2eI3id
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPCxObI0pU
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYWk9LWDV0
The prefects stood still. No movement.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyzT3dxHfd
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqB3dP2tZ5
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetArC6hJGE
Perfectly wrapped.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbQ5A7Ic8d
She reached in.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rw8MsZNy3
Paused.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpugvIrC3IC
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAggBBUhWh
Gasps rang through the hall.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgH0MvfSOtT
Naomi stared at it, frozen.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6F5lL1TMR
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUuCUpg4Xe
Mary stepped forward, too late.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45nS2I1cEq
“There’s been a switch—!”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPO8OjbYKJ0
But the room had already turned.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ulgk4hwRr
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrIKENDaXS
“Was this whole thing a setup?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Rfk0fONyf
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXHlDwGW1w
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkuGqIqA8o
Naomi placed the card down without a word.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2DyjcdKup
The silence was suffocating.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxScN25HNjT
Then she said, slowly:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8GuYpHNmx
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OBc4XPMrE
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMII8sRjgO2
Kim whispered, “There were two?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUom13m4kBD
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMBJbRSJxL
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZwz84l3Fq
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jNPl22Tnu
“She’s not in control.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrPy0qzsUB
“This was never about safety.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi6uCx9L38
“Mercy’s winning.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IJckYP6Fj
Suddenly—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aLmcqmETB
June stepped forward. Without asking.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rVAgVWx63
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkammMtepDW
Gasps rang out.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCnEElLPwF
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwImcToEsho
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZiPKnFivA
One name:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DknjZwvlO
Ayo.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2ajC3mfKV
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrR1eKVMyF
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNfoF4qL28
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtV47utx1Mr
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfopvEwO1R
June turned to the room:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81luUGHI8H
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGDdVX0g6L
Gasps deepened into murmurs.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivvSavhnyw
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nywrt2idN
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLuwsjWuEP
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwaZmPd6Sn
Naomi finally nodded.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52txFllNfN
She turned back to the room.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHH4gYaakr
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5otrcgvlW
“The Tribunal is postponed.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2mholzEAU
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlyDHGu9FK
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyJb7VCJ6z
That’s when Mary stepped forward.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TR9ZWN7HY
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnLIb1UvFU
Naomi turned.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpxCRi3UYW
“Not now, Mary—”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPxsfbkcdX
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlov71OmkX
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepWgsXHZyD
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRVPrO719q
She unrolled the pages on the center table.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplKIlbguy8
Real ledger pages.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabkJjIkqS9
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOlJ4KLr40
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJzSIhMOum
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWpoOZh3kB
Invented correspondences.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9i5VPS3srR
Mary flipped to one marked in red:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuMDqjSCBr
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZM27EM6lcy
Naomi stared at it.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7nr6WJha9
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡui4vhLUKRW
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6UjVkYdYN
Then — finally:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKUXywx7RR
“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.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zPfs1TBjK
She stepped back from the lectern.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYyJYIeCIU
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7gLRvkFH6
Mary rolled the pages up again.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMjDaN965A
“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.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yGfZYsrWX
Naomi nodded.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9LchSJx1j
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIw5Mp7n8W
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZomTenzhRK
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1pXRBt39v
All heads turned.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgZioBWAPd
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tYywti8Li
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iOc8QmoRJ
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfajVcEyBua
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywa2yxzuel
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBNC3DSfEv
“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?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj7lPqG8dj
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TiHsGutG5
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkU7UmS8ePU
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiA0rFYAX8
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxMBCxTtlB
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k8xOasFXh
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgn9UoZ5qJT
She faced the remaining prefects.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtV5Sbb4EH
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgM6OwaXcT
She turned.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaeeqqBcXQ
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiHWWUwO3z
And she walked out.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEuh054WD5
No one followed.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnIAiqLtVC
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8anuPdwuqH
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSVe07WPhy
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWe0yc2SCU
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUeN3yDUuj
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAZlTvAgom
Kim slipped outside.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDbXpVJk8p
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzjizaD8zJ
Shiko.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZ6VYzhrSJ
No words — just presence.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OY5T1GsMW
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZFBemUPH7
“You were right,” she whispered.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraeMNn7aPh
“You didn’t flinch.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcy8pGB4EBl
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwoZrYWvMI
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozcrbCrPNU
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYV6vzDPX6
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV35sr3MPLS
Kim turned her face toward her.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGLEkyJW5S
“Why?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UGo1xjqfs
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ7xLcr9Nk
A pause.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjitHiM7Eb
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEJoinhQqX
But then — her eyes flicked.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgeinPksM3
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bxEssz7tO
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ824SPQD7o4
Her breath caught.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXB1AwO9nN
She pulled back gently.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EjUtDphur
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqt2P4wqIZ
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOklwQGJU0K
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.
