"No, you weren't wrong. I suppose I rarely look as if I want a hug." Which was, of course, by design. But it did make negotiating her relationships more difficult as a result. And this Piotr had lived a very different life than the brother she had left in another time and place.

To say that she was unused to doing the heavy lifting in terms of gestures of sibling affection was such an understatement that it almost made her want to bark with laughter.