Sofia Albescu
Sofia Albescu (maiden name Petrova, hence her brother being Alexei Petrovich ) is from Vanya's home town, Barsana, a flyspeck farming and goatherding village about two days' walk from Krezk. Her husband, Grigori Albescu, is a philandering drunk with a bad temper, so it was no surprise that she's been casting longing looks at Vanya for years; he's handsome, charismatic, and the kind of man who seems to actually care whether his partner enjoys herself. When Vanya's wife died, he quickly took advantage of the distraction Sofia offered. However, after he made his deal with The Dark Man, he left town to avoid Sofia getting tangled up in his bad decisions.
Unfortunately, it was too late for that. Sofia was pregnant with Vanya's child--a daughter, if his nightmare in Borca was to be believed--and the Gentleman Caller brought them in as bargaining chips when he told Vanya to betray Rose. If Vanya betrayed her, Sofia and the child would be under his protection. If not...well. (See The Dark Man's letter to Vanya )
At some recent point, according to Alexei, the Gentleman Caller came to Sofia and said something that deeply upset her. He skipped town just ahead of some traveling carnival, but whatever he said troubled her enough to make her skip town as well. She was supposed to reach Krezk two days ago ... but no one's seen her.
From talking to Brother Vaclav, you learned that the Gentleman Caller had told her that he was Vanya's patron, and that Vanya could have put her and the baby under his protection at any time but had declined to do so. He also told her that there was a new woman in Vanya's life, that they had a child together, and that he loved them both and was taking good care of them. After getting this news, she had gone to see Ianna the cut-wife on her way to Krezk. Ianna's home has been invaded by skin thieves, and their leader, someone named Anushka, took Sofia to her cottage. Anushka knows that Sofia is tangled up with a demon and has some plan for her that will come to fruition at the full moon.
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