the castle made the strange memories inside her head come on at full force.
A woman in an apron touched her arm. “Miss, are you all right?”
Anna gasped as a memory of herself with this woman flooded her mind. They were baking cookies in a large kitchen, and someone else was with them…a girl. Anna remembered burning her finger on the stove, and the girl freezing a pot of water so she could cool it down. Elsa? Anna clutched her heart and started to hyperventilate. Was this Miss Olina?
“Anna! Anna! Are you all right?” Hans rushed to her.
“Yes.” Anna slowed her breathing. “I…just feel so strange. I…” The sudden memories didn’t seem like dreams. They seemed like missing pieces of her life that she had somehow forgotten. She was desperate to figure out what was happening, but she was in a room of total strangers. If only Kristoff were with them. He’d help her make sense of it all.
“Where is Prince Hans?” someone cried. “Is he really here?” The Duke of Weselton pushed his way through the crowd. He was bundled up in a hat and several scarves. “Prince! Thank goodness you’re alright. I was worried when my men said they couldn’t find you after the battle.”
“Where was this battle?” Anna asked. Her teeth were chattering. She felt so cold.
Hans didn’t answer her. “I’m fine,” he told the Duke. “I got turned around in the snow.”
The Duke noticed Anna and did a double take. “You!”
“We meet again.” Anna rubbed her arms to keep warm. “Hello.”
“You two know each other?” Hans asked, confused.
“Well, not exactly,” Anna was saying when Olaf stepped forward and the Duke shrieked.
“Hi! I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs,” the snowman said. “I’ve brought Anna home! Wait till I tell Elsa! Is she here?”
Home? Anna thought.
“No one is permitted to see Princess Elsa!” the Duke declared. “She remains in the dungeons!”
“She’s here?” Anna asked, but she felt her body fading. She was so tired.
A woman in a green uniform pushed her way to the front. “Prince Hans! You must do something! The Duke has the princess, and now he’s taken away Lord Peterssen, too!”
“We demand Lord Peterssen be let out of his chambers!” a man in uniform cried.
They both started yelling at the Duke, but their voices were drowned out by the memories flooding Anna’s mind.
A different woman in green, with a cap on her head, placed her hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Gerda?” Anna whispered, the name all of a sudden popping into her head.
The woman blinked in surprise. “Why, yes. How did you…”
A portly man with thinning hair appeared beside her.
Anna pointed shakily in his direction. “And you’re Kai.”
“Why, yes, miss,” he said, looking at Gerda in confusion. “Can we get you warm clothes or glogg, perhaps? Olina doesn’t have supplies to cook much else, I’m afraid.”
“Olina,” Anna repeated, seeing herself as a small girl in the kitchen with the palace cook again.
It was all too much for her to bear. She started to back away from the crowd and the people shouting for Lord Peterssen’s release, looking for an escape.
“Miss?” Kai stepped forward, but Anna rushed through an open door.
She wandered into what appeared to be a portrait gallery. The large room had a slanted ceiling with blue panels and wooden beams. There was not much furniture—just a few benches and tables—and there were lots of paintings. Anna looked up at a portrait of a female knight in battle. For some reason, she could swear her name was Joan. As a matter of fact, all the portraits seemed familiar. Anna clutched her stomach in agony. Her hands were cold and she felt too weak to stand.
She didn’t hear the door open behind her.
“Anna!”
Hans caught her as she started to collapse. He placed her on one of the benches, cradling her head as she sank into the velvet cushion. Anna couldn’t breathe.
“What is happening to me?” she said in a panic.
“You’re freezing! Hang on!” Hans stepped away to light a fire in the fireplace.
Anna kept talking. “I keep seeing things, hearing voices.…I know names of people I’ve never met before! Olaf remembers me, but I don’t remember him…although I feel like I might.” She looked up at Hans, her eyes full of tears. “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
He smiled gently. “It’s all right. You’re not losing your mind.”
“I’m not?” Anna asked. Her teeth were chattering.
“No,” he said, and put his hand on top of hers. “I think you’re remembering your old life.