The Storm Rages On
Chapter Four
Identity
The young woman looked about the room, her eyes wide, her heart pounding in her chest. What . . . Where . . . How did I . . .? She wanted to speak, but she couldn't make her throat function. It's dark . . . Why is it so dark? A terrifying thought rang through her confused mind. I can't see! I CAN'T SEE!
Panic overwhelmed her, stifling her breathing, sending her limbs quaking in terror. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't control her own body. What is happening?! Where am I?!
A soothing voice spoke in her ear. "It's all right! Just relax. Please. Deep, slow breaths."
She turned toward the voice, but she couldn't see, she was terrified, she didn't know where she was or who she was with. The tremors grew stronger, her entire body shaking, her muscles screaming in agony.
She flinched as something . . . a hand touched her head, gently stroking her hair, soothing her, trying to help her relax. Despite her better judgment, she allowed the touch to wash over her, relaxing her, helping her to calm down.
"It's all right," the voice spoke again, the tone gentle, the timbre as beautiful as a summer sunset. "You're safe now. Slow breaths. Slow breaths."
She forced herself to slow down her breathing, to let herself be calm. "Where . . . Where am I?" she gasped, astonished at how raspy her voice sounded.
Another voice spoke, this one on the other side of her. "You are in the cellar of the brann wielder fortress. We found you here and . . . and we had to help you."
"I . . . I can't . . . see . . ." the young woman said, forcing each word to escape from her still-sore throat.
The voice to her left, the first voice she had heard, spoke. "It's all right. I'm sure it's only temporary. You've been through . . . well, you've been through a lot."
The young woman had finally calmed down enough to begin to think rationally once more. What happened? I remember . . . I remember pain . . . My body feeling like it was being ripped in two . . . My baby being born . . .
She cried out, looking about in terror, shaking again. "My baby! Where is she? Please, tell me! What happened to her? Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?!"
She waited in silence for a response, her heart pounding, anxiously sitting in darkness.
The voice to her right spoke next. "You . . . You don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" The woman looked around frantically, trying to force herself to see through the blackness that shrouded her vision. "What don't I know?! Please!"
The woman on her left spoke next. "You were . . . You were preserved using the magic of your people. Something must have gone wrong when you gave birth to your child. You were kept down here for years so you could heal. We . . . We just now found you and released you. I . . . I'm sorry, but . . . we have no idea where your child is."
No! The woman shook her head, refusing to believe. This is impossible! This can't be happening! "I want my daughter," she whispered. "I want her now."
The woman's voice returned. "I'm so sorry, but . . . we don't know . . ."
"I WANT MY DAUGHTER!" the woman screamed, looking about in complete panic. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?! I WANT MY BABY! I WANT HER! I NEED HER! I . . . I . . ."
She buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably, wailing in inconsolable anguish at the loss of her child.
Alúvelin looked at Elsa, uncertain of what to do. Elsa gestured toward the woman, trying to help her sister understand. Finally, the Empress moved closer, sitting next to the crying woman, delicately wrapping her arm onto the woman's shoulder.
"It's all right," Alúvelin said, hoping she sounded somewhat reassuring. "Everything is going to be fine. We . . . We'll find your daughter. It will be all right."
Elsa sat next to the woman as well. "Can you give us some information? Do you feel up to doing that? It would help us find out what happened to your child."
The woman nodded, forcing herself to stop crying. "Yes," she whispered. "Anything . . . Anything you want."
Elsa cleared her throat. "What is the last thing you remember? Before waking up here, I mean?"
The woman shook her head. "Just . . . Pain. Unbearable pain. I was giving birth to my daughter, but something was wrong. It felt like . . . like I was being cut into pieces."
Anna overheard the woman's comments, involuntarily shuddering at the thought of a similar fate befalling her. Kristoff pulled her close, reassuring her.
"And . . . And before that?" Elsa asked. "Can you give us any information on when you became pregnant? You've been . . . You've been in this room for quite a while. We need to figure out just how long it has been."
The woman looked around, thinking. "I . . . I became pregnant just before the men of Arendelle attacked our fortress."
Alúvelin nodded. "I've heard about that attack. How our warriors fought valiantly in defending our lands." She paused. "That . . . that would have been . . . thirty-two years ago."
The woman gasped. "No," she whispered. "It wasn't thirty-two years ago. That's impossible. It was only three. Three years. No more. I know how long I was pregnant!"
Alúvelin's frowned. Three years? That's an . . . unusual length of time. Quite longer than a normal pregnancy. Just like . . . A knot suddenly formed in her stomach, slowly twisting. Her heart began to beat faster. Her head began to throb. No. Don't even think about it. It can't be.
But Elsa was frowning, growing suspicious. She looked at her sister. "Alúvelin . . ."
"No!" the Empress said. "It's not possible. Don't even think like that, Elsa."
"You know I have to ask her," Elsa whispered.
"I said no!" Alúvelin snapped.
"Ask me what?" The woman looked about, still unable to see. "Ask me what?!"
Elsa took a deep breath, hoping and praying that the answer she was about to receive was not what she was about to hear. "Can you please tell us your name? It would . . . It would make it easier to find your daughter. Just give us your name."
The woman turned toward Elsa's voice. "My name?" She forced herself to her feet, refusing to accept either Elsa's or Alúvelin's assistance. "My name is Princess Valanda of the brann wielders."
Silence descended upon the room. Alúvelin stepped backwards, her face pale, her hands shaking.
"Alúvelin?" Elsa asked, moving toward her. "Alúvelin, it's going to be all right. Just . . . Just breathe."
"No," the Empress whispered. "She's lying. This . . . This can't be happening. My mother is dead."
"Your mother?" The young woman turned back and forth between the voices, desperately trying to pierce through the darkness. "Who . . . Who is your mother? What does this have to do with me? I've answered your questions. Can you please help me find my daughter now?"
Anna took a tentative step forward. "Alúvelin, please just calm down."
"NO!" Alúvelin cried, turning toward Anna. "I'm not going to let this woman lie to us. She can't be telling the truth!" She moved forward, forcefully placing her hands on the woman's shoulders, shaking her. "What is your real name, woman? TELL ME! Don't lie to us again! I want your real name! NOW!"
The woman was now truly terrified. She was being assaulted by a strange woman she couldn't see. She struggled, trying to pull herself from Alúvelin's firm grasp. "I told you!" she cried. "My name is Valanda! I am—"
"YOU'RE LYING!" Alúvelin screamed. "Princess Valanda died twenty-nine years ago! She died in childbirth! She died giving birth to me!"
Gasping, Alúvelin covered her mouth, horrified at what she had just unintentionally revealed.
The young woman's mind reeled. Even though she couldn't see, she could feel the world spinning around her, disorienting her, making her ill. "That . . . That's impossible!" she gasped. "I . . . I just gave birth to my daughter moments ago. It hasn't been twenty-nine years! It couldn't have been . . ."
Elsa moved forward, placing her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Just breathe. You're going to get yourself upset again. Please just relax."
Alúvelin stared at the young woman, noticing for the first time the curve of her chin, the fiery red color of her hair. No. It's not true. Please, Almighty God, say it's not true!
"Just one more question," Alúvelin said, desperately trying to control her own voice. "No lies, understand? I want the complete, honest truth. Can you give that to me?"
The young woman looked toward the voice, nodding in the darkness. "Yes," she whispered. "I swear."
Alúvelin took a deep breath, feeling Anna's reassuring touch on her shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered to her little sister. Turning her attention back to the woman, she said, "The father of your child. Who was he? What . . . What was his name?"
The woman's mind raced as memories of her beloved flooded her mind. "We were only together for two days," she said, "but it felt like a lifetime. I . . . I never loved anyone else but him. Never."
"His name," Alúvelin repeated, fighting with all her strength to remain calm. "Tell us his name."
The woman felt tears running down her face, tears she could not see. "He was the leader of the ice bærers to the east. He came to form an alliance with us, but my mother . . . she betrayed him. She banished him from our lands, under penalty of death. I . . . I never saw him again."
Alúvelin moved until she stood directly in front of the young woman. "I need you to tell me his name," she repeated, her voice so soft that only she and the woman could hear.
"His name . . . His name was . . . Isarn."
The Empress felt her knees buckle. She nearly collapsed to the floor, saved only by Anna and Kristoff's quick intervention. Recovering herself she gently placed her hands on the young woman's face. "You . . . You are sure of this . . . Valanda?"
The woman nodded, confused. "I . . . I don't understand. Why do you want to know all of this? How is this going to help me find my daughter?"
Alúvelin took the woman's hand, moving it gently to her left hand, letting the woman's fingers come into contact with the signet ring she now always wore. "Do you . . . Do you recognize this?"
The instant her fingers touched the ring the young woman gasped, pulling back her hand. "Where did you get this?" she whispered. She took her fingers and ran them over her own hand, fear rising in her heart when she realized her ring was no longer on her hand. "You . . . You have it?"
"Yes," Alúvelin replied.
"Why?" the woman asked. "What significance is it to you?"
"It belonged . . . It belonged to my father," Alúvelin said.
What? The woman stepped away in the blackness, the implications of Alúvelin's words coursing through her mind. This cannot be happening! I won't believe it! I WON'T!
"Who are you?" the young woman asked, her voice little more than a hushed whisper. "Who are you?!"
Alúvelin took the woman's . . . Valanda's hand. "I am Empress Alúvelin of the brann wielders. I am . . . I am the daughter of Isarn of the ice bærers and Princess Valanda."
Valanda felt as if she was suffocating, crushed by an invisible weight. She looked straight ahead in the darkness, a single word leaving her lips: "Daughter?!"
She lost the ability to stand, the stress finally overcoming her, sending her into blissful oblivion as Alúvelin, Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff moved to catch her before she hit the floor.
AN: More to come!