It is going to be a long year, that is for certain. Easter is now upon us. I have less than a month to prepare myself for the torture May will bring. What else can I do but prepare for it? How can I prepare? I walk around Court and barely take anything in. Everything is the same as it has always been, and yet...

Something has changed. I know that. Jane will become Queen soon, and I must align myself with her. But I don't want to become her mistress. I refuse to become her mistress! In which case, what can I do? Flee to Hybrid Palace and ask Mummy and Esther to take me in as one of their students? Run away like I have before?

I have duties, not only to the Queen but to the Privy Council. If I run now, Cromwell could very well say I am unsuited to being on the Council. I cannot let that happen. No, I must remain and let the tide guide me.

If only it were almost the twentieth century. Things would be so much simpler. But then I would be facing 1912 and...

No, I will not go there. I cannot go there and lose myself. I blink back tears and look around. Has anyone noticed my blunder?

Courtiers are laughing and joking, and joyful music is playing. Chapuys approaches King Henry. What is he going to do now? I don't hear most of the conversation until the King starts yelling. "How dare you! Do you really think I am not a man among men? I must have a son! Lady Mary cannot rule a country!"
"Your Majesty, the Emperor—"
"I have no more to say to your master unless he acknowledges Anne as queen!" King Henry pushes past Chapuys. As he storms out, he knocks me to the ground. I lie there in shock. No one gathers around me. Instead, they back away and stare.
"What?" I ask. I get up and realise my dress is torn. I look behind me to see my blue tentacles in full show.

I turn and flee the room. "Mistress Emma!" A voice calls, but I ignore them and keep running. I must flee Court! There is nothing for it now.

I reach my room and slam the door behind me. Had Mum and Mummy been here, they would have helped me. Mum is great at calming people, and Mummy always knows what to do. Alright, not always, but most of the time. Maybe it's time I retire from Court and live in the country. It will be better than second-guessing everything that will happen. Tomorrow, I will tell the King my plans.

Jane has left Court. No one in our group knows where she is. Where is she? Anne is happily reading. "Chapuys bowed to me!" She exclaims. "How great is that?"
I frown. Chapuys would have no reason to bow to Anne unless she isn't going to be Queen soon, and he could have been bowing to Catalina, especially as Anne and Catalina never go anywhere without the other.

I'm running late for a Privy Council meeting. I rise. "Your Majesty, I am running late for a meeting."
"Then you should go," Anne says. "I will see you soon."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." I curtsey and run from the room, making it to the chamber a few minutes after the meeting starts. "I'm so sorry," I say, "I did not mean to be late."
"We know," King Henry assures me. "Do not worry, Mistress Emma, you have not missed much."

Cromwell is staring at me with contempt clear in his eyes. He must have seen my tentacles yesterday. No one could miss them. I sit in my seat and avoid his gaze. "We need to talk about the dissolution of the monasteries," Cromwell says. "Everything is going to plan, and now is the time to dissolve the larger monasteries."
"No, it is not." I stand up. "Mr Secretary, the bigger monasteries do not get dissolved until 1539. Why dissolve them now, knowing it will happen anyway?"
"Your Majesty, why do you have a woman on the council? Everyone knows they are of the weaker sex, and cannot help run a country."
"You dare declare that I am weaker than you?" I scoff and glare directly at Cromwell. "I'd like to see how you fare at arm wrestling once I'm done with you. You are nothing but a weak, pitiful man, easily breakable and expendable."
"How dare you! Your Majesty, you must remove this woman from Court at once!"

We both turn to look at King Henry. "While Emma and I do not see eye to eye," he begins, "I trust her judgement. She has been more loyal to me than most of you put together."
"She cannot be trusted. She tried to kill you at least twice, and she's planning to poison you!"
How does Cromwell know that? The only person I told was Anne, and unless she told him... why would he remain quiet until now? What use is revealing this information now? I look at the papers near him and realise one is an arrest warrant, the other is an execution warrant. Both have my name on them.

I must remain calm. It's the only way I can get out of this alive.

Cromwell notices my gaze and nods.

"Do you really think you can achieve what More could not?" I ask. "It's impossible to kill an immortal. I will see monarchs and empires come and go, and you think executing me will solve anything?"
"It is better than having a woman on the Privy Council!"
"Would it be, though? We used to be friends; how could you turn against me so suddenly? What have I done to you to deserve such anger and hatred?"
Cromwell remains silent and breaks eye contact with me. He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out.
"I think that if you try and have me arrested or executed without His Majesty's permission, you will find yourself on the wrong side of a hybrid's appetite rather than an axe that blunders your execution."
"You dare to threaten me like that when I have your execution warrant in my hands?" He picks it up and waves it in my face.

"Tear it up," King Henry says.
We both turn to him. "Your Majesty?" Cromwell asks.
"Tear up the arrest and execution warrants and drop the subject. Mistress Emma will remain on my council."

After the meeting, in which we did not get much done, I find myself back in my room holding a letter from Mummy. I break the seal and read it.

My dearest Emma,

After the dissolution of the lesser monasteries, King Henry generously gifted us the use of Waverley Abbey in Surrey. While floods can easily occur there, Esther is currently on site talking to the local people about how we can prevent that. One suggestion they have is building a moat so the floodwater will go in there rather than sweep the abbey away.

We do not know what to do with it. It is far smaller than Hybrid Palace and Labyrinth Castle. While it could be useful to have another place hybrids can go, the place is entirely unsuitable. Not even Esther knows what to do with it. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Your loving mother,

Sarah Jane

We now own an abbey? Or rather, a former abbey? What are we going to do with it?

I smile as I think. We could use it for the community rather than for ourselves. I sit down at my desk and begin writing.