1529 draws to a close, and Cardinal Wolsey falls from power as King Henry strips him from his offices. "I need someone reliable and someone who can get me my annulment," he explains when he sits in on one of our meetings. He rarely comes since he's such a busy man, but he updates us about the politics that are going on whenever he does. "Wolsey is an unreliable man, and he kept money from me that was rightfully mine."
"I had a letter from Wolsey yesterday," Anne says. "He wants me to back him so he can return to Court. Emma, does he ever return?"
"No, if anything, he gets tried for treason and dies next year. He can never return to Court."
"Then we know what we must do," King Henry says. "What about Sir Thomas More?"
"More?"
"Yes, I just employed him as my chancellor, and he is cracking down on the heretics."
"Thomas Cromwell gets you your annulment by suggesting you break from Rome and create the Church of England."
"I did not ask about Cromwell; I asked about More!"
"I know; I just thought you would like to know. More doesn't approve of you breaking from the Church, and while you suggest he conforms in public and practices Catholicism in private, he still refuses to agree with the act of supremacy. You have him executed."
"No. More is one of my best friends. I will not execute him!"
"You do hold off on executing him."
"At least that is some sort of comfort. Should I tell him?"
"Do you think he would find comfort from that, Your Majesty?"
"It will at least help him prepare for what is to come."
"Well, that decision lies with you, Your Majesty. I will focus on telling your future wives what they will get involved in; you can focus on your household."
"Fair enough, Mistress Smith-White."

As the day wears on, I think about how things are changing. Anne will soon find herself on the throne, bringing England into turmoil. There is nothing I can do to help except be there for her. Maybe if I tell the King how the country will react to him breaking from Rome, it could help lessen the number of executions in his reign. Either that, or it makes King Henry become a tyrant earlier. Either way, it might not help much. Would it be better to just not tell him and keep history as it is? Yes, that must be the best choice.

I am walking in the gardens when I first meet Thomas More. He wears a black hat over his brown hair and walks confidently. "Mistress Smith-White, can you please come with me?"
"Of course," I agree, and we start walking. "May I ask what this is about?"
"Your religion."
"Sir Thomas, I am as good a Catholic as they come. I always attend mass, and I never say anything against the Pope or God."
"But then why did one of my supporters tell me that you told the queen that King Henry will break from the Catholic Church?"
More must have someone working in the Queen's household. Well, I'll humour him with what is to come. I have nothing to lose. "Because that is what will happen. I am from the future, Sir More, so I know things even you don't know."
Thomas grabs my arm. "God would not send someone from the future to mess with the King's Court."
"The King trusts me; you cannot do anything to me." I rip my arm out of his grasp.
"Mistress Smith-White, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Which is it going to be?"
"Neither, because you cannot do anything to me. The King trusts me to tell him the truth, and that is what I intend to do."
"Even if it means damning your soul?"
"Screw my soul; I'm already damned if I continue keeping history on the right track! What is the point in believing in heaven or hell if I know I am immortal and I'm going to hell if I can ever die?"

Thomas makes a gesture, and some guards come toward me. Oh, great. "Emma Smith-White, you are under arrest for heresy."
"Oh, I know how this is going to go already. You will not look for the truth but try and catch me in saying something heretic so you can burn me. So how is this? God does exist, but they prefer being called the Higher Authority. Yes, I said them because they prefer using they/them pronouns! The Higher Authority tries their best to be kind, but—"
"I think we have heard enough. There will be no need for a trial for her."
"Want to know something else? I am half human, half alien. My alien half is known as soul stealers, so you better start—" Someone gags my mouth, and someone else ties me up. I start struggling against them, but with my hands tied together and my mouth gagged, I cannot fight back. I cannot even use my soul-stealing powers if I wanted to. The guards lead me away from Court and towards a secluded area with a stake waiting for me.

My breath catches in my throat. Do they want to burn me? I start struggling even harder and try to untie my wrists, but they tied the rope tightly. There is no way I can escape from them. The guards lead me up to the pyre as More looks on. One of the guards unties the fabric from around my mouth. "Surely you allow those who commit heresy a chance to recant?" I ask.
"You are not human—"
"I'm half human; that should be enough!"
"Your alien half is known as soul stealers, so you do not get the chance to recant. You are far too dangerous to release back into the population, let alone back at Court." The guards tie me to the pyre as another begins laying dry hay at my feet and around my lower body. They are really going to do this. More is more than willing to let a woman burn for heresy.

I glare directly at More when I notice out of the corner of my eye someone wearing a black mask coming toward me with a lit torch. He begins to lower it towards the sticks. "Surely executions need the consent of the King? You cannot execute me without his authorisation!"
"I have the authority to execute all heretics, whether I have His Majesty's permission or not."
"You will regret this. When I return, I will ensure your life becomes a living hell." The executioner moves around the stake, setting fire to the sticks and logs around me, and they quickly catch alight. "The Higher Authority will crack down on you for your actions!"

The hay quickly catches alight, and I feel the heat against my skin. My clothes begin burning up, and the flames lick at my legs. Tears sting my eyes and begin streaming down my face. I try and blink them away, but it is no use. I try and untie myself again—if I can at least untie my hands, I can get out of this. I might not survive, but it is worth a shot. The knots are still too tight, and the flames and smoke make it difficult for me to concentrate on anything. I fight to stop myself from screaming. I will not show More he has made me weak.

The flames begin travelling up my body, and I open my mouth. A devastating, almost inhumane scream erupts from my throat and surrounds me. I shut my eyes as the smoke begins to sting them. My body is burning into ashes, and there is nothing I can do to save myself. Damn More to the depths of hell! I will never let him forget what he did to me. My thoughts begin to die away, and all I can do is breathe and scream. Through the flames, I see More turn and walk away. "Coward!" I scream at him. "Turn around and face me!" At least, I think I say that. I'm unsure if words come out of my mouth or if I'm still screaming.

"How did you die this time?" A male-sounding voice asks, and I see someone with long grey hair and a beard. Was I wrong? Does God exist?
"I was burned at the stake—sorry, I don't know how to address you."
"Call me Higher Authority."
"Well, Higher Authority, Thomas More had me burned at the stake."
The Higher Authority shakes their head. "That man believes he is a man of God, much like Wolsey. However, they both do the bidding of the King and pay no attention to the rules I gave humanity."
"If I may ask, what rules were they?"
"To treat others how they want to be treated and to be kind to people."
"Yeah, humanity will struggle to do that."
"Exactly. I know what will happen, and while I want to do something to help others, I don't have the power to help them."

"That solves the problem of evil."
"Pardon?"
"The problem of evil is a theory that I studied at school. It wonders why there is evil in the world when the Bible says that the Christian God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent."
"Oh, yes, I recognise the theory. All-knowing and all-loving are not problems."
"But you are not all-powerful." The Higher Authority nods. "But I thought you created the universe."
"I have the power to create, but that is it. I cannot involve myself in universal affairs until the universe ends. All I can control is the afterlife."
"So, heaven and hell are your domains?"
"Them and purgatory, yes."
"Purgatory exists?"

I haven't started fading from this world. Am I wrong about being immortal? I guess it means I can ask a few more questions. "I usually go back to living by now. Why is that not happening this time?"
"Your body has burned into ashes, so it will take a long time for you to return to the realm of the living."
"How long?"
"A couple more hours. I heard what you said when you were dying. Thank you for using they/them pronouns when describing me."
"The Titanic officers mentioned you use those pronouns, and I want to ensure I'm being respectful."
"Thank you, Emma."

We continue talking for some time, and I recall what I said to Thomas More. "Higher Authority? As I was dying, I told More he would regret burning me."
"And he most certainly will," they agree. He points in one direction, and I turn. I can see a screen, and it shows what is going on at Court. More is working on some papers, and he looks like he hadn't just burned a woman. "You know he is executed in 1535, but your return to the realm of the living will trouble him."
"What about my parents? How are they coping?"
"Sarah Jane and Ruby don't know you are dead. No one knows."
"Only More and the guards who arrested and burned me know?"
"Not even the King knows."
"How will he react when he finds out?"
"He finds out when you tell him, and maybe that should remain an unknown right now. You studied so much about what would happen to you, so maybe it is best that some things remain unknown." I nod as I think. As I know so much that will happen to me, it will be nice to find some things out for myself.

It takes ages for me to start fading away. "I have restored your clothes to you," he says, "so you look respectful when you walk around Court."
"Thank you, Higher Authority. How can I ever repay you?"
"Keep history on the right track until 1900 at least. After that, do not worry about it so much."
"Are you giving me permission to change history after that point?"
"Little things here and there, nothing big. By 1900, your birth is almost certain, but it is best not to change too much until 1993."
"All right. Wait, are you giving me permission to change—" I don't get the rest of my sentence out as a white light surrounds me, and I feel my feet lifting off the ground.
"Good luck, Emma Smith-White."

When I finally regain consciousness, I am lying on the ground, staring up at the blue sky. I move my limbs, taking stock of what I have and if anything is missing. I don't want to sit or stand yet as my body is still hurting, so I stay lying down. My sight is great, and I can hear the birds singing and people talking—wait, people! People are coming this way! One of them sounds like More. Shoot! I must move.

I pick myself up and begin walking in the opposite direction while trying to find somewhere to hide. The voices grow louder, and I pick up the pace. I soon find a tree with branches low enough for me to climb. I climbed a tree as a toddler, so how hard can it be? I swing myself onto the first branch and reach for the next one. Now I'm older; I can scale the tree easily and pull myself up onto the next branch. Once I think I'm high enough, I stop and listen to the conversation going on below me. "How many heretics have you burned, Thomas?" King Henry asks.
"Seven," More replies. "One of them was serving in Her Majesty's household."
"Does the queen know yet?"
"No, Your Majesty. You are the first person I told." Is More going to tell the King who it was?
"Who was it?"
"One heretic is just the same as another, Your Majesty."
"I think the Queen would prefer to know who it was." The two keep walking, and the conversation dies away. More doesn't reveal my identity. I begin climbing down and lower myself to the ground safely.

I want to hunt More down and rip him apart, but that won't help anyone. Besides, he'll get executed in 1535, so I must wait, bide my time before then. But I will make sure More never forgets what he's done. I go the way King Henry and More came from, and I start to recognise the outskirts of the gardens I was walking in. Taking a deep breath and smelling the fresh air, I smile. It smells so much better than smoke and flame. I walk towards the palace, determined to find the Queen and her ladies.

It takes me around ten minutes to locate the Queen's rooms, and King Henry and Thomas More are already there. "Your Majesty," he begins, "I have discovered that one of your ladies is a heretic. She has already faced just punishment for her crimes."
"You never said it was a woman," King Henry says. "Who was it?" I go and sit by my parents.
"Her name was Emma Smith-White."
"You killed Emma Smith-White?"
"She was a heretic."
"How could you have killed her when she is right there?" Catalina waves in my direction.
"Hello, Sir More," I grin, but my smile falls. "Or should I say, Sir Coward? You couldn't even stand to watch my body burn into ashes."

King Henry stares at More, disgust written all over his face. "How could you, Sir More? Mistress Smith-White is a good friend of ours."
"She is not even fully human, and she does not believe in God."
"That is completely understandable. Mistress Smith-White and her close friends and family must not be tried for heresy."
"But Your—"
"Did I stutter?"
"No, Your Majesty."
"I will make it law in the next parliament. They are all exempt from being tried for heresy. Mistress Emma, at the beginning of each month, submit a list of everyone who is part of the group, and they will all be exempt."
"Yes, Your Majesty," I say, standing up so I can curtsey.

While most people will think this is great, it doesn't change anything. None of us will ever be tried for heresy.