She felt like she was about to pass out.
Liville had never felt this anxious in such a long time. She was...scared.
As scared as she was the day she entered Gaul's laboratory after the Hunger Games.
It was just like that, she realized. Gaul had called her into her lab that day to accuse her of commiting treason, and she had committed it again, this time towards Sejanus, and she knew she was about to be punished for it.
They dropped Lucy Gray off at her house. The Covey girl tried to stall for Liville, inviting them in for tea. But Sejanus only said, "No need. Liv and I will be on our way home now."
He didn't talk to her as they left The Seam. Liville was nervous, wondering if he was deciding what to say to her, or if he was deciding how mean he would be.
Would he yell at her at this time of night? It was awfully late, but there were hardly any people out. He could yell at her, and she doubted anyone would care enough to say anything.
Then, Liville wondered exactly what he was so angry about.
Was it just what happened at dinner? Was it because she broke her oath, and she told people about their betrothal? Was he just angry at the way she bluntly spoke to him?
Or did he know more?
Did he know what horrid things she had been up to? Did he know that she was betraying him daily with his best friend in the world?
Did he figure it out, somehow, someway? Had someone seen her with Coriolanus, and told him?
She didn't know what she'd do if he found out. They tricked him once before, if he found out about them again-he'd be livid. She didn't know how they'd ever move past it.
...Would he hit her, Liville suddenly wondered.
He was a soft hearted boy, but he'd been driven to violence in the past.
She had personally driven him past anger before. Back when he found her proposals for Gaul. She still recalled how loudly he'd screamed at her that night. In a way, his screams of anger had been more traumatizing than the injury to her hand. She then recalled when he found out Jessup had been strung up in the games, and the way he flung his chair at the screen. She didn't blame him for having that reaction, but at the same time, she worried how cruel he would be in a private argument if he was willing to do all that in public-
"When did you tell Lucy Gray about us?" Sejanus asked, his voice breaking her fearful train of thoughts.
He kept walking, not even looking at her as he asked.
Liville swallowed, practicing her words in her head before saying them out loud. "Before the games."
She watched him frown. "Why did you tell her?" he then asked.
"I...did not know that she would survive. I thought that telling her...wouldn't count."
"But why did you tell her?" He stopped walking finally, causing her to stop as well. "What was the context of the conversation?'
More nerves hit her. "I can't remember-"
"Try."
She took a sharp breath. "We were just...talking about everything-"
"Were you complaining?'
Her heart dropped. "What?"
"Were you complaining to her that you were stuck with me?"
"No," she said, fast, shaking her head.
It had been the opposite, at least that's how she remembered it.
