Looking back, throwing a Bible at the King was not one of my brightest ideas. All it did was give More a reason to have me sent from Court. I am staying with Bessie, and I'm under house arrest. "You threw a Bible at him?" She asks.
"Indeed, I did. But he would not listen to reason. He wants me to disappear from existence."
"I'm not surprised after that display."
"Nor am I." I look at the guards within the room. "Of course, he sent his personal guards with me to keep me out of trouble. I trust you will read my letters and respond accordingly."
"Of course." Bessie gathers her embroidery and continues where she left off.

As she works, Catalina enters the room. "Dowager Princess," Bessie says. "How wonderful to see you."
"I shall be alone with my ladies, Lady Blount and Mistress Smith-White," Catalina says. "She will not throw a book at me, unlike what she did with my husband." The guards leave and close the door behind them. "Emma, why did you almost risk the plot?"
"I'm sorry, I was not thinking."
"You will need to exercise better control over your emotions if this will work."
"I know, I know."
"You must manage yourself better if you are going to travel throughout history. You must remain strong through the bad times so you can make it to the good ones."

Catalina speaks honestly, but it's starting to look like I won't make it much further. "More has me under house arrest. How can I serve Anne and continue through history while I am stuck here?"
"I am not in the King's favour, if you recall. Now, neither are you. But your parents still are, and I know they are fighting for you. Anne sent me a letter the other day to tell me what happened. And my, what a fighter you are! We are all lucky to have you on our side and not working against us."

I look at the ladies Catalina brought with her. They all know our secret, and now, they are in on the plot. If we succeed, none of us will live in fear of a wrathful king again. We have a chance to live our lives as we choose, and we must take it with both hands.
"King Henry has a child with me, right?" Jane asks. "But also, with Emma. If we do it too soon, Edward will not exist, and he takes the throne after the King."
"Ruane does not matter so much," I say. "Mum might be able to make a hologram to make it seem like there is a child."
"But you will also have to fake being pregnant. How on earth are you going to do that?"
"I will figure it out nearer the time. Ladies, the next few years are critical. Catalina and Anne die on the 19th of May, 1536. Jane dies on the 24th of October 1537. We need to time this exactly either before or soon after Jane dies. If it's before, we might have a chance to save you, depending on what you die of. If it's after, I can bring you back."

Catalina and her ladies do not stay long and soon leave. The guards return, and I begin pulling together all the letters we send to each other about the plot. We cannot let them fall into the wrong hands. I place them in a box Mum sent to me for this exact purpose and lock it. If I keep the key on me, no one else can look inside and learn about the contents. It must stay that way.

The days drag by, and I barely have anything to do. Bessie answers most of my letters once I told her what to write, and she seems happy to have a bigger role in the group than normal. She has a couple of other children, and I mostly spend my time with them. They are entertaining and speed up my days a little. I write in my diary less and less since very little is going on. Maybe I will be let back at Court someday, but that will not happen yet. From what Anne says, King Henry is still furious with my stunt. My parents are struggling without me, but K-9 is helping them work out which historical event is coming next and preparing them for its consequences.

Months pass by, and Bessie and her husband give me more freedom. I can roam the grounds at will, but the guards follow me around whenever I'm out. I am back to answering my own letters, and I can get visitors from Court.

The first two that visit are Mum and Mummy. "We have talked with the King, and we might be close to releasing you," Mum says.
"Thank goodness," I grin. "It will be great to see the others again."
"I wish I could go with you," Bessie says.
"You are in a great position where you are," Mum says. "You can visit Catalina while the rest of us can't."
"Speaking of Catalina, she visited with her ladies near the beginning of Emma's house arrest."
"Really? You never mentioned that." Mummy says. "What happened?"
"She said I need better control of my emotions," I say.
"Well, she's not wrong. What will happen if your temper blows up while you're working on board a ship?"

I can see where Mummy is going with this. While I might still have a few hundred years until I work with White Star, I should start working on my temper now. Besides, there's so much history to get through, and it will be easier if I have more control over my emotions before then.

When Mum and Mummy leave the following day, they tell me to keep my chin up. "Anne is certain the King will change his mind soon," Mum says. "He is barely able to decide on his own these days."
"Is that due to the...?" I dare not say the words out loud.
"The plans are in motion," Mummy assures me. "Maggie, Rocky, and Joan have returned to Court and are helping us. Who knew that Maggie knows so much about herbs and medicine?"
"That is certainly handy."
"Boleyn is on our side, and he's trying to convince other members of Parliament and the Privy Council."
"Is it working?"
"The factions at Court are changing. That is all we can say on the matter," Mum says. "Come on, Sarah. Lady Anne will expect us back soon."
"You're right." Mummy climbs onto her horse and smiles at me. "We'll write soon."
"All right. Bye." I wave goodbye until my parents are out of sight.

I do not know how long I'm supposed to stay here, but it could be any length of time, especially if Anne is wrong about the King changing his mind. I stop writing in my diary because there is nothing to talk about. I hear nothing from Court for some time, so I have no idea what is happening. If something is going on, I thought the others would tell me. I hope they're not distancing themselves from me after what happened.

A month passes before I hear anything from Court. An official letter arrives bearing my name and the royal seal. I break the wax seal and open the letter. I feel the blood rushing from my cheeks, and the room starts spinning. "Emma, what is it?" I faintly hear Bessie ask. I hold the letter out to her and notice my hand is shaking. Bessie takes the letter from me and reads it. "This is great news."
"No, it's not. King Henry wants to question me for my actions. He's not accepting me back to Court; he wants to try and catch me out on something."
"It could be worse."
"Really? How?"
"He could have ordered your arrest and execution."
"Good point." I sit down on a chair and wait for the spinning to stop.

When the room stills, I look at the letter again.

Mistress Smith-White,

Our most sovereign lord, King Henry VIII, commands your presence before the Privy Council on the twenty-fourth day of June in the year of our lord 1531 to explain your actions when you were last at Court.

Thomas More

I groan. I thought Thomas More had left Court by now! Obviously, I was wrong. King Henry has yet to create the Church of England, so he has no need to get rid of More. Well, the sooner that man is gone, the better. I'll be able to breathe easier—no, wait, Cromwell will still be around. At least I haven't had a run-in with him yet. But if he is also there, I won't get to defend myself, not that I could do that anyway. How on earth am I going to explain why I threw a book at the King? To make matters worse, I threw a Bible at him; the people in this time are deeply religious. I should have thought about my actions more carefully. Well, there is nothing I can do about that now, I must focus on getting myself out of this mess.

As the day of the trial grows closer, I begin to fret more. I still don't have a reasonable explanation for why I did it, and more importantly, I am worrying about who will be on the council. Anne has written to me since I got the summons and said her father is on the council. Maybe he can put in a good word for me unless my actions drove him away.

I am back at Court the day before the trial and keep to myself. I find myself pacing my tiny room often, and no one comes to check on me. My emotions and needs are running so wild I find I cannot eat anything. The sooner the trial is over, the better. Maybe everything that is going on now is a test to make sure I can go through the rest of history. No, King Henry does not care about that. He'd never want me to succeed because it means he will die. Also, he won't want to admit he is a villain, which is exactly what he is, according to most people. How can people romanticise someone who kills two of his wives? I will never understand shows like The Tudors that do that. They don't seem to understand he is a tyrant. And tomorrow, I am going to face this tyrant and beg for my life.

I am about to think of what to say when someone knocks on my door. I open it to reveal Thomas More and another man I instantly recognise as Thomas Cromwell. "Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, what can I do for you both?"
"You recognise me?" Cromwell asks.
"I am from the future, so I would know about you."
"But I am nobody."
"You will be an important peer in the realm in a few years, but I suggest you watch your back."
"Is that a threat?"
"I only threaten my worst enemies, and you are not among them."
"I see. Can we come in?"

I hold the door open and let them in. "I would offer you a drink, but I do not have the provisions to do so."
"No matter," More says. "We have come here to congratulate you."
"Congratulate me? But I am going on trial tomorrow, and I am sure both of you will be either giving testimony against me or on the jury."
"Where did you get an idea like that?" Cromwell asks.
"Because you give testimony against Anne Boleyn at her trial before she's executed, and she'll be an anointed queen by then. Therefore, I imagine you will give testimony against a defenceless woman who has few friends or resources in the time she finds herself in."
"Well, Mistress Smith-White, I, like everyone else, have morals I will stick to. I would not hold a trial against you because you are a powerful woman."
"I just said I have few resources in this time. If you want to hold a trial against me, you are more than welcome to do so. Executing or killing me, however, will be far more difficult, as I am sure More here will be more than happy to explain."

"As I was going to say," More says, "we are here to congratulate you. King Henry was saying all that to get a reaction out of you."
"So, it was deliberate?"
"Yes. We also uncovered the plot you and your friends are conspiring against him. He thinks it is keeping with history and has told us not to do anything unless you confirm otherwise."
"However, as you have instigated this plot, he assumes it is what will happen."
"What would happen if I said that the plot is not how history goes? What will the procedure be then?"
"Are you saying it does not conform to history?"
"I am saying nothing of the sort, only speculating."
"That will depend on the consequences of both success and failure," Cromwell says. "What will happen if you fail?"
"Tens of thousands of people will be executed, including both of you and two of his wives. He even threatens to execute Princess Mary if she does not accept him as the head of the Church of England. Everyone in the country will fear him, and he drives England to bankruptcy. He is already doing it, and it won't be long before he tries to dissolve the monasteries and claim the land and money as his before selling off what he can to his friends."
"What if you succeed?"
"Who knows."
"So, you have no idea if it will succeed or not."
"Nope."

More and Cromwell look at each other. "King Henry currently thinks it goes along with history," More says. "We need to convince him of this."
"Wait, you're willing to help? But I thought you hated me."
"I did, but I talked to your... parents since then."
"I would have paid to see how that conversation went."
"It was uncomfortable for More." Cromwell chuckles. "But your parents are devoted to each other and to you. They are doing everything they can to help, even if it means overturning history so you don't have to marry the King."
"What do you two think about the plan?"
"We don't have many options if we want to keep our heads," More says. "But we will still have to keep as close to history as possible."
"I know. We need to keep ahead of the King."
"As you know what should happen, that should not be too difficult. Is there anyone else who knows besides the Dowager Princess and Lady Anne?"
"Some of our fellow maids-of-honour and ladies-in-waiting. I will not give away their names."
"Of course not," Cromwell agrees. "There is no way you feel you can trust us yet, but we do want to help."
"Then we better sort an arrangement out."
"I will make sure it will be held in Lady Anne's rooms."