Irina arrives on Thursday as promised.
Not alone.
Dmitri is with her not because she invited him, she tells me later with the specific dry precision of someone making a distinction that matters, but because he appeared at Geneva airport on the morning of her flight and said he was going to Varenholm and she said the flight is full and he said I booked a seat last week and she looked at him for a moment and said of course you did.
They arrive in the same car from the airport, Reth's car, which Reth sent because Reth prepares for all contingencies. They get out in the courtyard with the careful distance of two people who have known each other for a long time across a complicated shared history and are managing that distance with the ease of long practice.
Irina looks at the compound.
Sh
