The words that came from Nikolai’s lips, so unlike any she had heard from him before, put her immediately on edge. Sensibly she knew that it was probably English, the cadence of the few syllables that sounded familiar clueing her into the fact even if the words were utterly mysterious. She assumed them were soothing though, and she felt for this crying girl a deal more than she had the other one.
Hesitantly she came up behind Petra, reaching out to stroke her hair as Nikolai had.
Ustinya doesn't speak much English so unless otherwise stated she converses in Russian.