While Anne is no longer serving Catalina, she tries and visits us whenever she can. Quite often, King Henry is there with her. "I know I am no longer serving you," Anne begins, "but I still want you to see me as your friend."
"Of course I do. There is no way I cannot."
During these meetings, King Henry finds out some things he shouldn't know yet—two of those things are our relationships. "No! I will not execute Anne for being in a relationship with Catalina!"
"That is not the only reason why you execute her," I say. "Cromwell claimed she had affairs with five other men, one of them being her brother."
"Ew!" Anne cries. "I would never do that with George!"
"All they had to go on with that was a letter from you to George saying you were pregnant."
"That is it?" King Henry asks, and I nod. "The sheer stupidity of that man!"
"He also accuses Anne of high treason."
King Henry shakes his head. "Why does he do it?"
"I think Anne threatened to have his head, but I am not entirely sure. But what I am certain of is that Cromwell later admitted he made up all the charges and brought Anne's faction down."
"I already hate this man, and he is not even working for me yet; he is working for Thomas More."
"Please do not say that name in front of me." I fold my arms and shrink away from the memory of the flames burning my skin.
"Sorry, I did not mean to bring up bad memories."
I look at King Henry, and part of me thinks he is being genuine. However, I know he will become a tyrant. Will he use everything he knows about me against me at some point? Well, he will use my relationship with Jane to get me locked up in the Tower, making my aunt steal my soul for the first time. Well, the second time for me. How many times do I end up meeting her? I'm not entirely sure, but it's at least three times.
"Is your mind wandering again?" Catalina asks. Her voice makes me snap out of my thoughts, and I turn to her.
"Sort of," I agree and turn back to King Henry. "I'm just thinking about 1537. When Jane dies, you have me locked up in the Tower of London for a month for being in a relationship with her."
"No! I will not do that!"
"I don't think you have much choice, Your Majesty." I am trying to remain respectful, but that is proving to be difficult.
"Maybe I could try and make it beneficial for you..."
"Beneficial how? I don't think you can make a stay at the Tower beneficial."
"Well, have you ever had a break from Court?"
I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. That is a question I've refused to answer for some time. "Er, no, I don't think so."
"A stay in the royal apartments will give you the break you'll need." We all stare at the King. "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You are starting to talk like us, Your Majesty," Mummy says.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Yes!" All of us cry.
"If you talk too much like us, people will grow suspicious," Mum says, "especially someone we won't mention."
"All right, I will stop."
Most of 1530 passes uneventfully, and King Henry distracts himself with sports and politics whenever he is not in our meetings or trying to wiggle himself out of his current marriage. He is talking with us when Thomas More walks in. "How dare you disrupt our meeting," King Henry says. His voice and attitude start shifting towards the tyrant I recognise. "I told you that you must not attend our meetings on pain of—"
"Your Majesty," More interrupts. "Cardinal Wolsey is dead."
"Dead?" Catalina asks. "When did this happen?"
"Yesterday, Your Majesty."
"How did he die?" More pauses and his eyes flicker to each of us. Whatever information he has is not the sort he wants to give in public. "How did he die?" King Henry yells.
"He died of natural causes, sire." Oh, that was not the response I was expecting. I was expecting something completely different. Hopefully, he died peacefully.
"Is that everything you have to tell me?"
"It is, Your Majesty."
King Henry nods. "You may leave us, Sir More." More bows and backs out of the room.
Everything is happening so fast now. Will I be able to keep everyone up with what is going on? Can I keep my head above water until 1547? I don't have any answers to these questions—but K-9 does! I want to go and find him, but I dare not with King Henry here. I would rather do it when he leaves. I don't want him to think that I'm doubting what I'm going to do.
"My current privy council are unable to help me," King Henry says, "I wish I could let all of you on the council; you will probably be way more useful than those idiots."
"Women aren't really in that type of employment until after 1945," Mummy says, "and even then, they're practically forced back into the home because the men are returning from a massive war and are taking their jobs back, Your Majesty."
"That is unacceptable! Women work just as well as men, so why should why be pushed into the home if they do not want to be there? If I could talk to those politicians, I would tell them exactly that. And Sarah Jane, I must remind you that our ranks do not matter in these meetings. All of us are of the same rank when it is just us."
"Of course. Although Emma doesn't lose her employment."
"You are working at that time?" King Henry turns to me.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Oh, come now, Emma. In these meetings, our ranks do not matter."
"Right. I am working for Cunard White Star Line at the time. It was initially White Star Line, but they had to merge with Cunard Line in the 1930s."
"What sort of companies are they?"
"Maritine companies."
"So, you become a sailor?"
"Yes, that is my dream. Even now, I think of going out to sea, but I dare not do it. Not only will it disrupt history, but there is also always a chance I may not make it home. There are no lifeboats in this time, so if I survive a shipwreck, I might never reach land again."
"I understand your concerns, but I might be able to do something to help you."
"What is it?"
"I only have an outline of an idea, nothing more."