They stuck her on a train. That's how they did it. How they kept her from having to see the hanging.
They sent Liville on a train, told her to get off at the first stop in the Capitol, pick out a rug for the house, and return at seven o'clock.
She did as told. She left in the early morning, before peacekeepers swept through the neighborhoods to make sure everyone was in the courtyard for the hanging.
She went alone, which Coriolanus wasn't thrilled about, but they had no choice. Sejanus walked her to the train station, and at least Coriolanus knew there would be no real problems once she reached the Capitol.
Liville staying for the hanging wasn't an option. And it wasn't just because of how dramatically the sensitive girl may react to it, it was because she would without a doubt recognize someone.
Sejanus was worried she'd recognize the man being hung. He was scared she'd seen them speaking at the tavern, and that once she heard the man being accused of being a 'rebel', that she would start putting together what Sejanus's 'meetings' really were.
Coriolanus, on the other hand, knew that Liville would recognize the wife of the man being hanged.
It was a woman she only saw a few times, but would recognize anywhere. After all, the man's wife is the person Liville assumed to be Sejanus's 'other woman'. And honestly, Coriolanus didn't want her to start asking any question about that, especially not now.
Not while things between her and Coriolanus were so...perfect. He'd do anything to keep them this way.
The hanging that morning was brutal, as Coriolanus had expected.
The wife of the man who was killed started screaming at the crowd, shouting insults and a horrid, "You're murderers! All of you!"
A few officers arrested the woman for her misconduct.
Sejanus, stupid Sejanus, had gone as far as trying to stop them, even risking it all by telling them, "Just tell her to be quiet and send her home-"
Coriolanus was quick to snatch him by his uniform and force him back into position, before their commanding officer noticed he spoke up at all.
Leave it to Sejanus to be a district sympathizer at an actual hanging, as if the Capitol wouldn't hang him too just to prove to everyone that no one's above the law.
When Coriolanus was excused from his shift that day, he made sure to tell Sejanus, "I'm going to get Liville. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
"Stupid?" Sejanus practically scoffed. "Like what, trying to stand up for a widow-"
"Stop it," Coriolanus spat at him. "The only woman you should be looking out for down here is Liville. Stop doing things that might put a target on her back."
Sejanus seemed angered by the comment, but he said nothing further.
Coriolanus left, quickly making his way to the train station. He got there as soon as he could, waiting for a good twenty minutes until the train pulled in with Liville on it.
He spotted her through the window. He relaxed, his anger from the day drifting away as he saw her. Her bright eyes were looking around the station, and they lit up even more when she noticed him as the train pulled to a stop.
She rushed out to see him. "Coriolanus! I didn't know you'd be escorting me home!"
"Yes, I'm off early today," was all the explanation he gave.
"Oh, I can't wait to show you the rug I found!" she beamed to him. "It's a perfect color match for the house. They dyed it for me right then and there. It'll match so beautifully."
