Chapter 48

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Clarissa steps out onto the street and takes a deep breath of summer air, the sun warming her face. Her pride might be in ruins, her heart aching for what she has lost, but her mind is as sharp as ever and hungry for revenge. She thinks about all the ways she can hurt Daniel as she walks towards Westminster Abbey. Physical pain is so primitive in their line of work, psychological warfare is where the real damage is inflicted, demonstrated so aptly by the morning's events. 

She will not jeopardise her people's safety for the sake of vengeance but aside from that, there is no end to what she could do to him in return. She wants to break him, inch by inch, shatter the control that he fights so hard to keep, and force him to his knees. As far as she is concerned, her old life is over, she has nothing left to give, so she will give it all to see him crumble. 

She turns left at Westminster and heads down the next street, in the direction of the Parliament buildings. People stop when they recognise her, they watch her, but she ignores everyone who tries to talk to her, pushing past them and continuing onwards. She no longer cares for her reputation, for the family she tried to protect by keeping her head down and her mouth shut, she owes them nothing. 

She stops in front of 10 Downing Street, looking around her cautiously. It's a lot quiter here than the other streets, a few people walk this way but no one is paying her much attention. She raises her hand and uses the lion face knocker to rap sharply on the black door. She waits patiently, and then there is a scuffle from inside. 

 The door opens and Wyn blinks at her in surprise, his hat askew, "Clary," 

"Hello Wyn," Clarissa smiles ruefully. 

"What are you doing here?" He asks, reshuffling the papers in his arms and stepping out onto the front step. He looks up and down the street, "Are you alone?" 

"Yes, I am," She replies, "And I need a favour," 

Wyn's face falls and he leans back to pull the door up till it's almost shut.  When he turns back to her he is wearing a complex expression, "We watched you from outside the church," 

Clarissa raises her eyebrows, "You did?" 

"You looked beautiful," He says, softly, "The whole wedding was beautiful," 

She looks away, expecting her heart to leap at the compliment, but it remains steady and quite unaffected. She frowns, raising her hand to her chest to feel the consistent beat. Where her heart once fluttered at the mere sight of her friend, it now does not change its rhythm. 

"Are you well?" Wyn asks, studying her confusion. 

"It's not quite as beautiful now," She admits, her hand falling away. He sighs, growing uncomfortable. 

"Aren't you going tell me that you were right?" She prompts, a playful tilt to her tone. 

"Was I?"

"In every way that counts," 

He exhales, "What kind of friend would I be to take victory in your pain?" 

"One perfectly within his right," She replies, her smile holding no bitterness. 

"I'd rather know what it is that you need," He counters gently. 

She nods, linking her fingers in front of her, "I need you to destroy the contract we made, and write me a real marriage licence," 

He almost drops his papers, managing to clutch at them before they fall, "What? You want a legally binding marriage?" He says, amazed, "Whatever for? You'd lose your inheritance, you would lose everything," 

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