ONE HUNDRED AND THREE

Seven years later

It's been seven years of peace and our relations with everyone have prospered as well. There has been no war or reports of rebellions in any part of the jurisdiction that Yoda oversees and we have been living our best lives as well aside from the occasional attempts by people who wanted to harm us.

The pact we made with Yoda seven years ago had proven to be a masterstroke. The starting had been extremely difficult seeing as Yoda wasn't from the bloodline but as things went on, it became easier for Alessandro to teach Yoda the ropes and he had been extremely patient with Yoda until he became his own man.

Jade had returned to her coven after completing her teachings and it had been a year since we saw her last. It was quite understandable, she had left a lot of things unattended to and they needed her now more than ever.

The coven was growing and they needed a permanent high priestess.

The most shocking thing that had happened in the past seven years was the marriage of Yoda to Tiffany. Alessandro had sworn that he had seen it coming and it was right there in my face but I chose to ignore it.

"Despite how much you've tried to convince me, it still seems surreal anytime I see Yoda and Tiffany together," I whispered as I heard Tiffany's laughter from across the garden where she sat with Yoda.

We couldn't see them from where we sat but I knew that they were trading gossip and making fun of whoever they desired at that moment.

"The problem has been that you've never accepted that there wasn't any sign of the budding romance between Yods and Tiffany from the start and I've run out of steam trying to convince you otherwise."

"But it happened so suddenly, neither of us was expecting it," I argued.

"We shouldn't peddle in the affairs of adults simply because they're bound to us by honor or by friendship, Gianna." Alessandro chided me. "If they deem it fit to love another, we can't have a say in that. The best thing we can do is pray for their union and wish them luck."

"You sound so civilized, Alessandro." I nudged him with my shoulder. "I remember how raw and how much of a brute you were when you asked my father for my hand nearly ten years ago."

"You talk like you were a saint yourself," Alessandro scoffed. "You were a wild girl with a mean streak, I had to make do with what you offered me."

"Here we are, still standing strong." I sighed as I leaned against his chest.

"Your children are at it again, Gianna." Alessandro chuckled as he stared ahead.

"Don't you think it's your turn to take care of them?" I let out a groan. "I need a break from their excesses."

"I would've but they seem to listen to you a lot more these days and l would very much like to maintain that order for the time being." Alessandro patted my arm.

Our son, Ethan, had just turned nine a week ago and our daughter, Jade was only four.

The complications surrounding her birth had been so severe that I decided that I was done birthing children and Alessandro eventually agreed with me.

I had given him the son he'd always wanted and a daughter he loved with his life and he was satisfied with that. Ethan would carry on the family's real estate business when he passed and Jade, well, everyone knew how extraordinary she was but we hadn't seemed to figure out what to do with her or how her future would turn out to be.

I heard the kids squabbling and I knew it was time to intervene. As much as they loved each other, they had their moments where their tempers would flare and they would get into an argument. It was best I broke up whatever they had going on.

I was a few feet away from them when I discovered that they weren't fighting in truth, it had only been a minor incident that I shouldn't have worried about.

I sighed in relief and turned back towards Alessandro, hoping to find comfort in his embrace and that was when I felt it happen.

I suddenly felt myself being thrown across the grass as I landed next to the pavement, narrowly missing hitting my head by a few inches.

I groaned as I felt my body ache with the impact of my landing. The wind had been knocked out of me and I was going to need a few seconds to get myself back.

"Gianna, are you okay?" Alessandro said as his eyes roamed over me.

"Check on the kids," I groaned as I forced myself to sit up.

Alessandro gave me a nod as he bolted towards our children.

I knew what had happened. We had been the recipient of this sort of attack previously and we had believed it was never going to happen again, but we thought wrong.

I made my way to my feet to see Jade hovering with her father over Ethan's body, her eyes were red from crying and Alessandro had a grim look on his face.

"I didn't mean to harm him, mother." Jade began as I crouched next to them. "We were talking about getting the next set of new toys that were going to be released and we saw something strange amongst our toys. I threw it at him and this happened, I'm sorry."

I kissed the top of her head, trying to calm her down. "It's not your fault, my child. Bad things often happen."

Yoda and Tiffany came rushing towards us within the next minute.

"Is he fine?" Yoda asked as he stared at Ethan.

"He will be eventually," Alessandro replied. "We just need to get him to the hospital and the worst would be behind us."

"Come on, Jade," Tiffany carried her from my arms. "I think you need a bath while we wait for Ethan to wake up."

As soon as she was out of sight, I turned towards Alessandro. "They're back. This was a mock grenade intended to kill the kids."

"I know, Gianna," Alessandro sighed. "I guess it's time to come out of retirement."