Anne and Henry return with massive smiles, but Anne begins frowning as soon as she enters her bedchamber. "King Francis gave his support," she tells us. By now, Joan, Maggie, and Rocky have returned. "Oh, and Rocky, I have news. You and George are going to marry."
"I like George, so at least I will be matched with someone I tolerate."
Anne gives her a small smile, and we begin unpacking her belongings. "I wish I do not have to marry the King, but I must disregard my feelings."
"Things could change between now and then," I say. "Do not lose hope."
"Do you think the plan will work?"
"It must work. If you don't want to die, we must ensure it will work."
"You're right. So, what have we got?"
"Jane's skilled in herbs and plants, and she promised to send over a list," Mummy says. "We have not got it yet, but she said she's still working on it. As she's in Catalina's household, it is difficult to get hold of resources like ink and parchment."
"Yes, that would be a problem."

I begin pacing around the bedchamber. Everything is going so slowly. Barely anything exciting is happening, or if it is, Torchwood is handling it. I thought there would be a lot of alien invasions in Tudor England, but it seems disappointing. I don't want to get used to a life of barely doing anything, and then I'm hit in the face with alien invasions. Is there any way I can change that?

"Is something the matter?" Mum asks.
"I thought Tudor England would be a bit more interesting than this."
"Emma, we're planning on bringing down a King who will become a tyrant. That involves a lot of planning and waiting. We can't suddenly jump into action and poison him."
"No, you're right. If we do it too soon, people might get suspicious. But what if everything goes wrong?"
"Well, that means it's going to be difficult to get back in his good books in time for you to marry him," Mummy says. She stands up and takes my hands in hers. "It will be difficult, and it will involve a lot of waiting, but you must grow used to it. You must do a lot of waiting between Tudor England and the twentieth century."
"At least during part of that I'll be at nautical school."
"I guess that is something you will be looking forward to."
"I'll have to deal with patriarchalism all over again. That is not something I'm looking forward to."
"It can't get much worse than it is here."
"At least in Edwardian England women can work and earn a better wage than they can in Tudor England. They still belong to their male relatives in the eyes of the law, but it's better than it is here. Oh, and the Suffragettes begin campaigning for the right for women to vote in elections."
"What are you talking about?" Mum asks.
"In the future, people in parliament will be elected by the people, or at least, those in the House of Commons will be. In Victorian England, most men can vote, and the Suffragettes take militant action because they waited decades to get the right to vote and men keep passing them over."
"Are you going to be a Suffragette?"
"Of course! It's something I'm looking forward to alongside my work. My work will obviously take priority, but I'm looking forward to both."

"Edwardian England?" Rocky asks. "When is that?"
"It starts in 1901 and ends in 1910 because there is a King Edward on the throne, but some people think it goes on until the start of the First World War in 1914."
"You have hundreds of years until you become a Suffragette. What are you going to do in the meantime?"
"I will find something to distract myself with."
"For hundreds of years?"
"Okay, I'll be getting annoyed with history by that point."
"Aren't you already annoyed with it?"
"Rocky! You know you can't talk like you come from the twenty-first century! People will find it suspicious."
"But you, Sarah Jane, and Ruby talk like that all the time."
"Mummy and I are from the twenty-first century, so we can. Mum—actually, I don't think I can explain why mum talks like that."
"It's because I hang out with you two so much."
"Hang out?" Anne asks. "That is not a term I recognise."

This is going to be a long rest of the year. How can I explain a term that I've grown up with most of my life? It's bad enough that I must explain historical events to those I trust. Maybe it's about time I ignore history and strike out against Henry VIII. While I might already be doing that, there might be something else I can do.

"What is it?" Anne asks me.
"What?"
"You look like you are thinking."
"I was thinking as I'm already rebelling against history, maybe we should do more."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas?" I look around the room, but everyone falls silent or looks away. "Well, if you come up with anything, let me know. I want to rebel against history in a massive way, so anything you can think of will help."

Maggie looks out of the window. "If you are already rebelling against history, does that go on to mean you will not be born in the future? I know we will fake Henry VIII being on the throne, but this seems a bit too risky. What if we get caught changing something?"
"The Higher Authority is not omnipotent, so they cannot come down and force us to change something. But I think they will be angry if we try to change too much at once."

"What were your new places like?" Joan asks. "Would they be suitable for what we need?"
"Definitely," Mum says. "There are lots of secret passages and hidden rooms in both places that Holbein hadn't documented, so it will be easy to hide people that are supposed to be dead."
"That is good to hear. At least we'll have two back-up places to go to in case things go wrong."

I look around the room and see Anne opening a letter. She smiles and looks over at us. "Bessie has good news about her son."
"What is it?" Rocky asks, leaning over to try and read it. Anne holds it out of her reach.
"She says she talked with Fitzroy, and he's onboard to help."
"Thank goodness for that. Now, we need someone to talk to Princess Mary and ask her for help."
"Can I go?" I ask.
"I do not see why not," Anne says. "Princess Mary will know you are a good friend of Catalina's, so she will trust you. Whether she will be onboard or not is another matter."
"After your execution, she might be."
"After? How come?"
"She experiences a lot of mistreatment at Henry's hands and believes you were the cause of it. It is only after you die that she realises that it was on Henry's orders. If we can get her to believe that sooner, she might switch sides and support us."
"Then you must convince her of such. How quickly can you get to Beaulieu?"
"It might take a couple of days, but I will be fine."
"I hope you will be. Now, you must hurry and get to Princess Mary before anyone realises you are gone. Now will be the best time as everyone is settling back in." I nod and hurry to my bedchamber to begin packing enough to last a week. I go to the stables to find a suitable horse. Mum and Mummy are coming with me since they don't want me to go on my own. We quickly staddle up and ride off.

The journey was uneventful, and we were able to rest with Bessie on the way. She was glad to see us but disappointed we would only stay the night. We told her what is going on at Court before we left. I think about what to say to Princess Mary as we ride up to Beaulieu. The two towers guarding the entrance to the courtyard remind me of those at Hampton Court. The red brick building almost glows in the sunlight. We ride into the courtyard, and someone hurries out. "Oh, forgive us, my ladies; we were not expecting company."
"That is all right," I assure him. "Is Princess Mary available? I must speak with her urgently."
"May I ask who is requesting her presence?"
"Mistress Emma Smith-White, I am a friend of her mother's."
"Of course, I will tell her ladies to let her know." He hurries inside as we climb down and lead our horses to the stable. The stableboy agrees to look after them as we settle in.

We finally see Princess Mary after dinner. We meet her in one of her private chambers, and we curtsey to her as soon as we see her. "Mistress Smith-White." She turns to us and smiles. Her pale pink skin glows softly in the firelight, and she hides most of her brown hair under a gable hood. "It is good to see you again. How are you holding up?"
"As well as I can, Princess."
"I am glad to hear it. Please, sit down." The four of us sit before the fire, and I look around the room. Many of her ladies are here, working. However, I cannot tell if they will be eavesdropping on our conversation or not.
"Princess, we must attend to an urgent matter in private."
"How urgent is it?"
"The entire realm is relying on you, as are us," Mummy says. "We need your help."
"We shall withdraw into my bedchamber." She stands up, and so do we. The servants bow to Princess Mary as she passes them, and we head into her bedchamber. We sit near the window. "What is the urgent matter?"

"Princess, you must know how history is going to play out. King Henry will marry Anne Boleyn in a couple of years and cast you out of the succession."
"I should have known it was her fault." Princess Mary holds her hands in front of her.
"Lady Anne does not want to marry your father. We are her confidants as well as your mother's."
"You know my mother?"
"I served with her since she was crowned."
"But you do not look a day over sixteen. How is that possible?"
"Has she ever told you about what I am or that I came here from another time?"
"No, she never mentioned such a thing."
"Then I guess we will be here for some time, Princess Mary."

We sit with her for a couple of hours and explain everything we can to her. "I can see why you have not told many people about what you are and where you are from," Princess Mary finally says after a brief pause. "Even I am struggling to believe it. But you have still not explained about the urgent matter you have."
"It affects the entire country. Your father will become a tyrant and kill anyone who gets in his way. After Anne Boleyn dies, he will threaten to execute you if you do not claim you are illegitimate and submit to him as the Head of the Church of England."
"He will do what?" Mary grows pale and looks like she is about to faint.
"I am sorry to bring that up in such a manner, but it is critical you know. Your father's treatment towards you will not be because of Anne. If anything, she promised to help you. She's a friend of your mother's, too."
"But then why is she doing all this?"
"Because that is how history goes. If we change too much, Mummy and I could cease to exist in the future."
"Then what are you going to do? If you don't want me and your friends to suffer, you must have a plan."
"We do, but it involves committing treason. If you want us to stop talking about it, just say the words."
"Treason how?"
We look around. The doors are shut and no one else is present, but we still drop our voices to a whisper. When we finish explaining everything, Mary nods.
"I understand."