Hearing the familiar voice, Svetlana opened her eyes and quirked a brow slightly. Well, this was unexpected. Yes, Freddie had been polite enough to her since her arrival, he had helped with the girls, he had even asked how she was after she had seen Chess, had thanked her for the congratulations on the marriage proposal even knowing that it could not have been easy. Not to mention their own match of the game. Yes, he had said back in Merano that every Soviet deserved abuse, but so far, he had never actually done anything to her to specifically upset her. Still, they never really went out of their way to talk to one another outside of the boards. So him asking if the seat was taken was definitely unexpected.
Quickly finding her voice from years of honing her ability to play the part, Svetlana gave a slight shake of her head.
"No, it is not." Slight smile and she sipped her tea. It was part of the routine. Still, the look seemed to say he knew that she wasn't as okay as she was pretending to be. Which was strange. Anatoly was the only one who knew how to read what the small signs meant. Which meant that her mask was cracking. So it seemed as though he had either heard through rumor or had been in the lobby when the alternate Anatoly had been yelling at her and blaming her for the death of the girls. Of all the insinuations and accusations he had thrown at her because of what that version of Molokov had made her do. As if she had had any other choice. Because there was no way he could have known otherwise. It wasn't as if she had made a post about it. Like everything, Svetlana had kept it to herself.
Well, this was interesting. And not exactly comforting. She hated people knowing what was going on with her. Not if she didn't trust them. Did she trust Freddie? In some ways, yes. Sometimes more than Anatoly as of late. Then again, it was more her resisting the urge to trust her husband than anything. Because she could see he was changing again. Freddie wouldn't believe it, but actual emotions were there from the Chess champion. One just had to know what to look for. Though she doubted that would come up.
For now, it was seeing what Freddie's angle was. What questions he asked and what she would answer. Oh, Svetlana was known as an ice queen for a reason. She was always polite, but the walls were there. She also knew what would be able to be avoided and what could not. If he knew about the girls, it would be pointless to protest it. Anyone who knew anything about her would know that their well being was her top priority. What happened back in Moscow though? No. That she would keep to herself. She may have no self respect or dignity left because of the rat bastard, but that didn't mean she was about to discuss it.