Of course, Catalina falls pregnant again. It is 1513, and King Henry is building an army ready for a conquest in France. "I will be leaving Queen Catherine in charge," he announces to his counsellors on the 11th of June. I was lucky to be there, since I was with the Queen at that point. "She will also be made Captain General." I note some of his men are whispering amongst themselves and shoot them a dangerous look. One of them notices my gaze and instantly falls quiet. "Those of you who are staying here will obey her and listen to what she tells you."

After King Henry makes his announcement, he returns to organising his army. I return with the Queen and her ladies to her rooms. "Sarah Jane, Ruby, Maria, Emma, Elizabeth Blount," she calls out, "come with me, please." The five of us follow her into her bedchamber and shuts the door. Bessie arrived at Court yesterday, and she is fifteen years old. She keeps her dark hair hidden underneath a gable hood, and you can only tell the colour of her hair by a small part visible between the folds of her hood. "Miss Blount, I am sorry I have been unable to welcome you to Court formally. As you can tell, we have had a hectic few days."
"I can tell, Your Majesty."
"Please, call me Catalina when it is just us. You are among friends here." We all either nod or voice our agreement, and I step forward.
"If you ever need help, you can come to either Maria or me. I am from the future, so if you feel like a certain event will drive history off-course, come to me, and we can talk about it."
"From the future?" Bessie breathes.
"I know, it is a lot to take in. But if you ever want to talk, I will try and make myself available."
"Thank you, Mistress Smith-White."
"Please, call me Emma. I don't like being called Mistress Smith-White."
"In that case, you can call me Bessie. I do not like being called Elizabeth."

We all sit together, and Catalina's hand automatically goes to her stomach. "I know my child will not survive, but it never makes going through pregnancy any easier."
"Of course, it won't," Mummy agrees. "I had several pregnancies before I had Emma."
"You did?" I ask, turning to her.
"Yes, Ruby and I tried for children multiple times before we had you. The doctors all believed that I would simply never be a mother." Mummy looks down at her hands, and Mum takes one of them.
"But you gave birth to Emma. You became a mother."
"I felt like I was letting you down. You wanted a family."
"Well, I will say that settling down does sound appealing now. However, I do not think I am ready for a family yet."
"Women do not have a choice," Bessie says, "our fathers or brothers make the decision for us."
"But that's not fair!" I argue. "Women make up about half of the population. Can't you just start an uprising or something?"
"We are seen as lesser people in this time," Catalina says, "even if most women did agree to rise, neither the King nor his council will give us equal rights. It has always been this way and always will be."
"No, it won't. The Suffragettes will see to that." I cover my mouth when I realise what I said.
"What are the Suffragettes?" Bessie asks.
"They are a group of women in the twentieth century who are fighting for the right to vote. By then, all men can vote for who they want to represent them in Parliament, but women couldn't. The Suffragists would have been around for decades by then, but they peacefully protested. The Suffragettes will believe in deeds not words, and so will take militant action against the government."
"What sort of action?"
"Destroying shop windows, blowing up letter boxes—wait, you don't have letter boxes yet. What else did they do? Oh, they also went on hunger strike while they were imprisoned. For years, they went through force-feeding until the government released what the Suffragettes will call "The Cat and Mouse Act"." I stop myself there. I cannot reveal much more to my friends.
"Go on," Maria says, "why did they call it "The Cat and Mouse Act"?"
"I already said too much."
"It is not like we will tell anyone. Even if we did, no one will believe us." I still won't say anything yet. I might tell them more nearer the time, but it's too risky for the moment. Maybe we should stick with what will happen in Tudor times.

I decide to backtrack a bit and return to talking about what will happen in the next few years. "Bessie, I'm afraid you will become King Henry's mistress at some point."
"What?" Bessie cries. "But I do not want to be the King's Mistress!"
"I am afraid it must happen for history to continue as it should."
"Does he tire of me quickly? I hope he does!"
"I think your relationship goes on for a few years, and you give birth to an illegitimate son in 1519, but Catalina sends you away from Court."
"What?" Catalina asks. "That is not fair! I do not want to send Bessie away."
"And I do not want to give birth to an illegitimate child. Surely there is something we can do to stop it?"
"I don't think there is. If we change too much, I could cease to exist, and so could Mummy. I'm sorry, I wish there was something we could do."
"We could try and work around it," Catalina says, "keep in contact with each other while Bessie is away from Court."
"That could work." I look at everyone. "How do you ladies feel about developing a code?"

We begin brainstorming different ideas for a code we can use, but nothing feels quite right. Catalina suggests we use different books in the Bible, and each person uses a book they most align with. "Other than the fact Mummy and I are not religious?" I ask. "The Bible goes against everything we believe in."
"I see, so that might not work. But if you are not religious, how are you fitting in with Tudor Court?"
"We're going along with what everyone else is doing," Mummy says, "it seems like the best way for us to keep our heads."
"That seems like a wise plan. All right, we will get rid of the Bible idea."
"Can we do something with the alphabet?" Maria asks.
"That is worth a go," I agree. "Why don't I work on it, and we can talk again once the King returns from France?"
"That sounds like an excellent plan," Catalina agrees, and the others nod. "Since I will be regent, we will have little time to talk privately, so it will give you plenty of time to play around and decide on a code."

The following morning, I almost run into King Henry. "Ah, Mistress Smith-White, just the woman I was looking for. Can we talk for a moment?"
"Of course." We continue walking to the Queen's apartments.
"I am worried that Torchwood will become rather unpleasant while I am away."
"Unpleasant how?"
"The current leader, the Duke of Norfolk, has already started turning women away and is trying to kill the hybrids we already have."
"He is what?" I stop walking.
"I already talked with him multiple times, but he is not having it."
"So, he will not stop killing hybrids?"
"I am afraid not. The Duke of Norfolk's ideas also put you and your parents in danger."
"My parents?"
"Yes, he also wants to kill all aliens, whether they are friendly or not. Because you and Ruby are quite open about what you are, you two are obvious targets."
"Right."
"But that will also put Sarah Jane at risk. From what I saw through these years, she will do anything for you and Ruby, and she will not let either of you go without a fight."
"No, but Mummy and I are immortal. Mum's been alive since Ancient Egypt, so I don't know if she's immortal or not."
"Maybe you need to ask her. Mistress Emma, can you be honest with me?"
"Um..."
"I will not ask about my future if that is what you are worried about."
"All right, because you do not turn out as the King you are right now."
"Oh, dear. What do I do?"
"You already said you will not ask about your future."
"I did, yes, sorry. But can I ask one question about it before I ask you the question I wanted to ask?"
"Go ahead, but I'm afraid I can only answer a yes or no question."
"Do I have a son when I die?"
"Yes, but Queen Catherine is sadly not his mother."
"So I do not have any children by my current wife?"
"I never said that. You already had children, and one of your daughters by the Queen will live to adulthood."
"A daughter is better than no children." He won't think that in the 1520s. "Anyway, the question I was going to ask is this: Does your time accept same-sex relationships?"
"The twenty-first century still has its problems, but same-sex relationships are allowed."
"So in your time, your parents being together would not raise too many eyebrows."
"I had some pretty bad neighbours who kept on calling them my guardians rather than my parents. They also asked why I never see my dad." I chuckle at that last bit. "Joke's on them because I don't have one."
"I would be careful if I were you." I stop laughing. "If too many people know, they can come after you and your parents with torches and pitchforks."
"Yeah, we want to avoid a witch hunt rather than start them off a century earlier." King Henry chuckles, and we make it back to the queen's apartments.

"Why on earth did you tell the King about that?" Mummy demands once the three of us are alone.
"King Henry is trying to help us! If we do not have his support, the Duke of Norfolk will try and kill us."
"I agree with Emma on this one," Mum says, "while telling King Henry might not seem like a wise move now, it will help us long-term."
"We cannot trust him in the future," Mummy urges.
"You think I don't know that?" I ask. "He bullied me when I was younger, so I obviously can't trust him. That, and he tries to use the relationship you two have against me in the future."
"What do you mean?" Mum asks.
"He knows you're an alien, Mum. Bestiality is still illegal in our time, just as much as it is here. In 1533, King Henry will create a new law called the Buggery Act, which will make homosexuality and bestiality illegal. Homosexuality remains illegal until 1967."
"1967?" Mummy breathes. "I would be sixteen at that point!"
"Is there anything we can do to hide ourselves?" Mum asks. "No one can know about Sarah and I."
"I think you successfully hide yourselves. You're never incriminated, as far as I'm aware."
"At least that is something," Mummy sighs. "Can I borrow your computer? I just want to check." I hand it to her, and Mummy researches what she needs. "You were right," she smiles, and hands it back to me. "While our relationship is known, no one takes action against it."
"That is one less thing to worry about," Mum says. "But what about Torchwood and the Duke of Norfolk?"

I shrug. How should I know what the King is planning?