I wake up and look around the room. Everyone is still there. "There is a chance, but there is so much we must fake we will need to be aware the entire time. There will be documents to fake, ambassadors to fool; we must pretend King Henry VIII is on the throne."
"Who can we trust?" George asks.
"Catalina," Anne says. "I will write a letter to her."
"Who is Catalina?"
"It's the woman you used to call Queen. We can trust her."
"Are you sure?"
"She's one of us." Anne sits at a table and begins writing a coded letter.

"What happens if we fail?" Thomas asks.

"We can't fail. If King Henry finds out, he'll throw us all in the Tower. Is there anyone else we can rely on who is not in our group? Any family, anyone?"
"Margaret Bryan?" Anne suggests. "She is my aunt and Princess Mary's governess."
"Yes, she will work. She might get the Princess on board, too."
"I have a friend called Kathryn Parr. She lives up north and is a devoted student. Could she help?"

Kathryn Parr. I am sure I've heard that name before. "Is she married?"
"At the moment."
"We cannot risk her safety while she's married. Keep in touch with her. As soon as she's widowed, suggest the idea to her."

"We do have a lot of Howard cousins," George says. "Is there anyone we can trust from their lot?"
I try and think. Katheryn Howard isn't even ten years old, so she's too young to come to Court. Once we are in 1536, we can send for her. She'll only be twelve, but it will be safer for her than the alternative. I push those thoughts to one side. We still have a little time.
"The Duke is loyal to the King; we can't trust him," Thomas says. "If he hears about the plot, he will inform His Majesty."

"Emma, I think we need to teach everyone who is part of our plot the code. That way, no one will suspect anything if they come across our letters or your diary."
"That is a brilliant idea," Mummy agrees. "The sooner we get on with that, the better. Is there anyone in parliament we can trust?"
"What about Thomas More?" Thomas Boleyn asks.
"NO!" I scream.
"More killed Emma," Mum explains, "so she'll never want to work with him unless we have no other choice."
"What about Cromwell?" Anne asks.
"He'll be too close to the King," I argue. "Besides, he might leak it to the King if he thinks it's in his best interests."

We must start contacting people we can trust. I inform Bessie of the plan and ask her to pass it along to Henry Fitzroy. If our plan works, we will need him alive. We spend most of the day sending out letters, and I am sure we are drawing attention to ourselves.

In the afternoon, Anne calls her household together. "Events are becoming serious, and I need to know I can trust each one of you. I know some of you prefer Queen Katherine over me, and I accept that. I will be working with her to do what we can to overthrow a tyrant. Emma Smith-White has more information."
Anne stands aside, and I stand up. "Within this decade, our king will become a tyrant. He will kill anyone who dares oppose him in anything he believes. He will create the Church of England and will use that to close the monasteries and send all the money to his pocket rather than help the ordinary people. He will execute thousands in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1537 because the people want him to return to Catholicism, and he will execute two of his wives and many of his advisors. One of these people can end up being you or a member of your family. You can either sit back and let it happen or join us and fight back. We are sending word to the Queen of our plan, and we will hear from her any day."
"How do we know we can trust you?" A young lady around my presumed age asks.
"I have been at Court a long time and travelled to here from the future. I initially planned to keep history on track, but now I know King Henry will either hurt or kill my friends; I will not sit by and let him destroy their lives and mine. Does anyone else have any other questions? I am more than happy to answer them if I can."
"If we succeed, what is going to happen?"
"I don't know. I have come from a future in which Henry VIII was king until 1547, and he killed tens of thousands of people. If we deviate from history, I have no idea what will happen. I don't know if I will even be born, but I am willing to risk my existence if it requires that."
"Who will reign if King Henry VIII dies?"
"We will have to pretend he is still alive until 1547. How we can do that is another matter."
"I know!" Mum says. "My species gives us a hologram projector when we get exiled. They can produce 5-D holograms that can walk around, move, and interact with others. The only thing they cannot do is hold objects and shake people's hands and things like that."
"Could you produce a hologram of the King?"
"Yes."

"However, we cannot rule alone," Anne says. "Who can we call on for help?"
"Queen Katherine will know what will need doing if she accepts, and we can help Princess Mary. We can also see if Henry Fitzroy and Bessie Blount will help. The more allies we have, the better."

Everyone looks at each other. "The plan is not foolproof," Mummy says. "We are still working out some of the details and waiting to hear back from our friends."
"People will wonder what happened," one of the courtiers says. "What will we say if others find out the King is dead? We cannot easily hide something like that."

I pause and realise the person is right. To start off, how can we convince everyone King Henry is alive when he isn't? Others will realise soon enough, and a civil war will break out. England has only just survived one. Can we put them through a second before the 1600s?

"Also, who will rule in his place if someone finds out?"

"It depends on when this happens. If it is during Lady Anne's reign, we will have three options; Queen Katherine's daughter, Princess Mary, Bessie Blount's son, Henry Fitzroy, or Anne Boleyn's daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Princess Elizabeth might be a newborn baby, and Fitzroy will be between fourteen and seventeen. If it is during Jane Seymour's reign, we will still have Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth, but Fitzroy could be dead by then. We might also have another option, Prince Edward. He will also be a newborn at that point. We have options if someone finds out after the King is dead."
"What will happen to us if he finds out before?" Mummy asks. "It's all well and good we're planning for after he is gone, but what if news reaches the King?"
"Besides, we are talking about treason! Who's to say someone isn't listening in on this conversation?"

I am about to open my mouth and respond when we hear someone knocking on the door. We fall silent and look at the door. "His Majesty, the King!" The doors open, and King Henry walks in, followed by members of his household. Please, don't let him have overheard any of our conversation.
"What is going on here?" King Henry asks.
"I was telling my household that the work they are doing is not good enough," Anne quickly says. "I want you all to treat me as Queen, understand?"
"Yes, my Lady," we chorus.
"You should all treat her like she is the Queen of England, as that is what she will be soon. Is that right, Mistress Smith-White?"
"She becomes Queen in 1533."
"1533?! I cannot wait that long! It is bad enough that the Pope is refusing to see my marriage to the Dowager Princess as unlawful and dragging this case for so long, and now I find I must wait two years to make my beloved my queen? No, that will not do! You will make sure it changes."
"No."
"No?"
"I will not compromise the safety of either myself or Mummy. If we disappear, it will all be on you for marrying Lady Anne too soon. I have my duty; yours is to keep along with history to keep us all safe."
"I respond to God and no one else. He is my judge and witness."

"He might be your judge and witness, but the Higher Authority is mine. I respond to them and my parents with equal respect. If any of them tell me not to do something, I will not. You need to trust me because the Higher Authority holds more power than your God ever will." That is technically a lie since God and the Higher Authority are the same person, but I am not going to tell King Henry that.
"God is the highest power anyone can get to. Your Higher Authority is simply lower than God because he—"
"They. The Higher Authority uses they/them pronouns."
"He is nowhere near as powerful as God."
"That is because the Higher Authority is not omnipotent and cannot assist in earthly affairs. God is the same."
"He is not! God will grant me a son!"
"Have you ever heard of chromosomes?"
"Heard of what now?"
"They are what make up a person as it carries the DNA of that person and passes it from parents to the child. A woman's egg, which forms with a man's sperm during conception, carries only X chromosomes, so the egg is female."
"What are you implying here?"
"A man's sperm, however, can have either female or male chromosomes. The sperm can be either male or female, and it is only when the sperm and the egg join does that influence the gender of the child someone is carrying. It is never the woman's fault if she only produces female children, but the man's."

"You are crazy!"
"Nah, I'm using science, which is far more reliable than simply praying for a male heir. You should try it sometime."
"I am a man of science."
"In which case, does the sun revolve around the earth or the earth around the sun?"
"That is a trick question! Everyone knows the sun revolves around the earth!"
"Wrong! Scientists discover the earth revolves around the sun in 1543."
"How am I expected to know that?"
"You did say you were a man of science."

"I am actually a man of theology."
I pick up a Bible lying on one of the tables, open it and find the passage I am looking for. I read the passage aloud and asks the King what it means. "You unholy woman! God has forbidden women from reading the Bible. It is a sacred book, and you are—"
"Anyone can read the Bible; I am simply doing what is well within my right. Now, what does the passage mean?"
"I have no need to answer your stupid questions. You are not a man of learning."
"I have more qualifications than you will ever have, including studying Christianity." I shut the Bible and lob it at his head.