My Lady Jane

Jane is furious that no one told her about Gifford’s horse form. She goes to see Edward, but the guards don’t allow her in. She wonders if her mother, Lady Frances, knew, as she is very prejudiced against Ethians despite secretly being one herself.

That night, she and Gifford set off for the Dudley estate for a honeymoon. He asks her to call him G, but she refuses, upset at his behavior. She lays out ground rules involving her books and he lays out ground rules regarding his horse form: No horse jokes, or riding the horse.

On their way they encounter a combined group of wolves and men facing off against a group of villagers, trying to kill and take their cow. Jane wants to help but Gifford stops her. She is upset that he doesn’t seem to care. The villagers lament that the Pack is taking everything from them.

G feels bad, but thinks that one person can’t change anything when hunger and discord exist throughout the land. He is annoyed that Jane is treating him like a villain when he saved her by holding her back. He composes a line of poetry in his head, as he often does, resembling Shakespeare. He tries to win Jane round, saying that he only womanized because he was lonely, stuck as a horse each day. He promises he will no longer do so. He doesn’t feel able to confess that the womanizing is just a cover for writing and performing poems and plays.

They debate his horse form. Jane sees it as an honorable gift, while G sees it as a curse. Jane doesn’t believe rumors of the Pack but G says that’s what the wolves were. They bond over the belief that no one should be persecuted. She calls him “G” but still makes him sleep on the floor.

On Jane’s prompting, they distribute medicine and food to the villagers; Jane is good at healing thanks to her reading. She is disturbed to hear the villagers’ resentment of Ethians and their criticisms of Edward as weak.

Edward only eats food that Pet approves of in her dog form. He plans to flee with Peter’s help when he is stronger. However, they are now poisoning all his food, so he is starving.

He thinks his sisters can help, as Mary has some powerful connections and Bess is very clever. Mary dismisses his story and gives him blackberry pie. He realizes she is in on it and that Dudley must be pretending she will inherit. She is eager to purge the Ethians. Once she’s gone, Bess leaves him some food and a note saying she will help.

That night, men break into his chamber and take Pet away, but he manages to communicate that she should go to Jane. Boubou and Dudley force-feed him poison and lock him in. He wakes later, alone, feeling fine. A cat arrives outside his door, then turns into Bess. She reveals that the food she left contained an antidote, but it will wear off soon. She tells him to flee to their Gran.

They can’t unlock the door, so the window is the only option. She reveals that his mother was an Ethian: Bess once saw her change into a white bird. Edward jumps and finds himself flying.

Jane acknowledges that G was right to hold her back from interfering with the Pack. G tells her he thinks she is right to feel they must try to do something. They develop a routine: In the daytime, she reads to him in horse form, sometimes petting him, and at night, they distribute more supplies to the villagers and banter with each other.

They nearly act on their mutual attraction, but are interrupted by Dudley’s guards. The guards forcibly bring Jane and G to the Tower of London, where Dudley greets them. He tells Jane Edward is dead, and she is queen.

Jane is devastated about Edward and shocked that he has made her heir. She is desperate to avoid being queen, until G reminds her of everything they want to fix in the kingdom and promises his support. G makes some worrying observations: Dudley is smiling, which is odd for him, as is Frances.

The coronation is hurried and low-key. People seem anxious. Later, G overhears a messenger tell Dudley that Mary refuses to accept Jane’s coronation and has fled to amass support, posing a danger to Jane. Dudley initially lies to G about the message. Then he dismisses him, saying he will deal with it himself and no one will stand in his way.