We stay with Princess Mary for almost a week before Anne summons us back to Court. "Are you sure you cannot stay longer?" Princess Mary asks as we walk through the grounds together. Mum and Mummy are sorting out the horses, and I will soon join them.
"I wish I could, princess, but Lady Anne needs me back at Court."
"I see. Well, you can easily contact me if you need to."
"Yes. Do you—"
"The code is easy to learn, do not worry. Maybe it is a little too easy."
"Too easy?"
"Yes. A skilled code master could crack it, but since my father trusts you, for now, it should work."
"I wish I could bring you news about your mother."
"Don't worry about it. You brought me some comfort this week, and I thank you for that. I only wish I could do more."
"You have already done enough. You take care, okay? And remember, everything that will happen is not Lady Anne's fault."
"I will remember that."
I curtsey to the Princess before I head to the stables.

Mum and Mummy are waiting for me, and I climb on my horse. "Princess Mary is in."
"That is fantastic," Mum says. "Let's go and give Lady Anne the good news." We trot out of the stables and away from Beaulieu.

It is nightfall when we return to Court, and we go straight to Lady Anne once we get ourselves cleaned up. "It is good to see you again," she says after she welcomed us back and led us into her bedchamber, where some of our friends were waiting. "Do you have any news from Princess Mary?"
"She's in," I say.
"That is a relief. Everything is moving so fast. How will we convince people that the fake Henry is real?"
"I think Mum is figuring that out," I say. "Don't worry; either we fail and history continues as is, or we succeed. Whatever happens, we'll be all right."
"I hope you're right."
"I haven't faded away yet, so I'm right."
Anne beams. "Then we should have hope. Whatever happens, history will continue as it should."

Our first day back is nothing incredible since we go to bed soon after. Mum checks on my tentacles. "Well, your tentacles are healthy, which is great." She has a tape measure around her neck. "Stand straight." She steps behind me and measures them. "They're a great length, and I can't see any patches. Your tentacles are healthy."
"I am glad. It's going to get stressful soon."

That night, I toss and turn, unable to sleep. I get up and walk to the window to see the moon is out. I smile as I look at it and think about what is ahead. The creature within me wants to go beyond the window and disappear into the night. I want to disappear, but that will never happen. Too much is at stake for me to vanish. I must continue with my mission and keep history on the correct path. But now we are planning to murder the king. Can I say that I am keeping history right?

My heart falls heavy. If we go through with murdering the king, we will not keep to history. How will killing King Henry VIII save anyone? If something goes wrong, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves. Maybe it will be best if I disappear into the night. I'm the one he will blame when it comes out. After all, I am the one who came up with the idea and one of the few left. King Henry will want to punish me. King Henry will want to punish me so I will not disobey him again.

It's about time I take my life into my hands. If I can find a way to disappear, I will take it. Someone else can take my place at Court and keep history on track. I will not be blamed if things go wrong. I look back at my sleeping parents. They will be devastated when I leave, but I must do this. If I don't, everything could go wrong. But if I leave, everything will go wrong. Neither option is ideal. If I stay, things will go wrong; if I leave, things will go wrong. What can I do?

I remember my phone and take it out. I search my contacts before finding the one I need and pressing call. It rings a couple of times before the person picks up. "Hey, Emma," Luke says. "When are you?"
"Late 1532, it's almost Christmas."
"That's nice. You are still moping around. Will hasn't turned up yet."
"Let me guess, still 2010?"
"Yes. But parliament isn't letting you return to the sea."
"What?" I turn back to the window. Parliament isn't letting me work? "What's going on? Did they give a reason why?"
"They explained that while your younger self travelled back in time and experienced a lot of history, you still only have your GCSEs. They want you to continue with education until the time you would've turned eighteen." But Parliament haven't raised the leaving age in education. How can they keep me in education?
"So, December 2011? That's cutting it a bit close to the centenary."
"I know, but you, Anna, and Catalina can leave before then."
"So does Katheryn. Her birthday is in February."
Luke remains quiet for a while. Oh, how I long to see him again! I want to go through the phone and back to my time. I want to promise him that everything will be all right. But how can I assure him of that? I am stuck in the past and am trying to figure out what's going on in his time! "It will be cutting it too fine for Anne and Jane."
"I know, but they will have a few days. Have they said anything about the centenary? I know you still have a couple of years—"
"You have several centuries before you even experience the Titanic."
I groan. "I want to be in the twentieth century already."

Luke chuckles. "You should make the most of the time you have. Speaking of which, has anything interesting happened?"
"It's 1532, so little yet. It will be next year that things kick off."
"Well, something must have happened since the Doctor took you back in time."

I can trust Luke with everything. He will never tell anyone. Besides, he is my brother. He deserves to know. I tell him everything, and Luke asks questions when it is necessary. "I think the tentacles thing is cool," he says when I tell him. "But wouldn't that drive people away?"
"Well, it will drive away the person I don't want anywhere near me."
"Yes, but won't it drive away William as well?"
"I did not think of that."
Luke laughs. "I didn't think you did."
"Well, he will know I am part alien, and he wouldn't have married me if he was terrified."
"Unless he thought he was stuck."
"No, he visited me in 1531."
"He did what?!"

We talk most of the night, and dawn rises when I finally decide to say goodbye. "You were up most of the night talking to me?! Emma, I know I told you to call me when you need it, but I didn't mean you should stay up most of the night."
"There's one last thing."
"What is it?"
"I'm thinking of leaving and forging my own path."
"What? Emma, no! If you do that, history will change. No, don't do it!"
I can imagine Luke's expression easily. He will be disappointed in me, especially with what I will have to say next. "The Tudor court is not what I expected. Everything is too different, and the only person that understands me here is Mummy. It's getting tedious since we're doing the same things every day and plotting to kill the king."
"You do know you're going to fail, right?"
"I've got to try, for the sake of my friends if nothing else. Luke, I'm sorry." I hang up the phone, but I hear Luke call my name before I do.

"Emma?" Mummy asks. "What's going on?"
"I can't do this anymore," I say.
"What? Don't be stupid, Emma. You've trained and learnt for this. You taught yourself so much you could almost pass for a Tudor lady."
"Almost isn't going to cut it here or anywhere. We may as well face it—we're going to fail."
"Well, I'm not going to believe that. You are stronger than this and can overcome anything."
I walk over to Mummy, and she hugs me. I hug her back. While I feel guilty about wanting to leave them, I know it will be best to leave. No one can easily come after me. I can easily change my identity, live out my life in Tudor England and have a quiet existence. But I cannot have a quiet life, not after everything I lived through as a teenager. I can feel the stars and sea calling out to me, and it will only be a matter of time before I grow restless.

I cannot let that happen while I'm at Court. Who knows what will happen if I grow too restless? I let Mummy go and turn my attention back to the window. "I'm changing too much. Whether we succeed or fail, we've changed history. We cannot ignore that."
"Emma, no one but us will know."
"We cannot rely on that. There's more. Luke said that Parliament will not let any of us discontinue our education. I would've been out of school for hundreds of years. I don't know if I can cope with going back to school hundreds of years later! I'm already forgetting what it's like because I'm too busy surviving here and now."
"Maybe it won't be so bad." Mummy tries to smile, but it looks more like a grimace.
"We'll have to stay in education until we would've turned eighteen, and I'm not just talking about me. The other queens will be in the same position as me."
"I'm sorry." She sighs and looks at me. "But we must focus on the here and now. "Who will be the last person to marry Henry VIII if you leave? Who will help us go through with the plan?"
"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" I walk over to my bed and sit down. Mummy joins me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "We're already changing history."
"But that can't be a bad thing."

I remember something I've learnt at school. Now seems like as good a time as any to talk about it. "I once learnt about the Butterfly Effect at school. Have you heard of it?" Mummy shakes her head. "It is a theory that explains that tiny actions can have massive effects, a bit like a butterfly. The world is so interconnected that one action can have thousands of consequences."
"So, if we go through and succeed with our plan, it could have unintended consequences?"
"Exactly, and we cannot predict what these consequences will be. We have not lived through that. If we had, we would know something."

My phone buzzes, and I check the screen to see Luke has texted me. I open it to find that he sent a link. I click on it, and it takes me to a news article. "What is it?" Mummy asks.
"Hang on, I'm reading." I scroll through it and can't help but gasp when I come to the video. I click on it.