The characters on the back of the talisman are identical to those on the books that are in secret room.
I dry swallow and work up the courage to ask my mother about the characters.
"I like the talisman very much, Mother!
But do you know what's written on the back?"
"No. I also received it from my parents when I tied my fate with your father.
Because it's so important to me, I want to give it to you."
Looks like I'm out of luck, I was hoping to at least know what it means.
No, I have no reason to be sad, I rather look on the bright side of things.
I found out that the language is not just in the books, so Affra has a chance to find something useful in that room.
"I see, I'll take good care of the presents."
"That's how it should be, son!
Now that you've received the family sword, your responsibilities have increased.
At least tonight you can enjoy your birthday without thinking about them."
"Darling, your mother is very proud of you."
My mother gets down on her knees with tears in her eyes and squeezes me in her arms so tightly it leaves me breathless.
"Darling, Teo start to blush."
"Oh my, sorry Teo, I couldn't help myself."
Air! Finally, I cough 2 times so hard that can be heard throughout the living room.
"Don't worry Mom, I'm alright."
"Darling, we have to go to our seats."
I can't believe that my mom is so strong.
If she'd squeezed me any tighter, I think I'd have died.
"'Folks! The cake has been brought, now it's time for the birthday boy to serve us."
The birthday boy? I have to do this?
I get up from my chair and go to the center of the table, where the cake was placed.
I take the knife and start to cut the first slice, but my hand starts to shake on the handle.
Come on Teo, just cut the cake in slice, I have no reason to be nervous.
I take a deep breath and recover.
-10 minutes later-
I handed out a slice of cake to each guest, unfortunately there was nothing left of it.
I wonder why chocolate is so hard to find.
I finished my slice in less than 2 minutes.
"Ah." Now I have nothing to do at the table.
I take a look at Affra and see how she's still eating from the slice.
I want to tell her to come to my room after she finishes eating so I go next to her and whisper this.
"Okay, I'll come after I'm done."
I stand up, all the guests have they puzzled looks fixed on me, when I see everyone staring at me, I get nervous.
"I would like to thank all the guests who came to my birthday today, please excuse me, I am tired so I will go to my room to rest."
I take all the presents and go to my room.
I get to the room, put the armor on the table, throw the box of candy with the sword on the bed and myself after.
I lay my head on the pillow, pull the sword by the handle with my right hand and raise it above me.
"Thank you Ordirin, you granted my wish."
I draw my sword from its sheath and start to admire its brilliance.
It's been in our family for generations and yet it has no rust, and the gem at the base of the blade is so strange, at first I thought it was red but now that I look closer, the color is more like a fire.
It's always changing its red tint like a flame, but what amazes me is that it's not heavy, it's half my height, but the longer I hold it in my hands, the lighter it seems to get.
It's probably just my imagination playing tricks on me, the reason I find easier is because I've become stronger .
"He, he, he, he. Oops." Someone's knocking on the door, probably it's Affra.
"Come in, Affra."
"Why did you call me Teo?"
"I want you to look at the talisman I got."
I place the sword on the edge of the bed, take off the talisman from my neck, and wave my hand to Affra to come in bed.
"What's so special about it?"
I extend my right hand towards her while holding the talisman by the chain with my fingers.
Affra looks at the tree and looks puzzled.
"Look what's on the back."
She turn the tree over and stares at it for a few seconds.
"Are the symbols from the books, no?"
"That's what I think."
Affra takes the talisman in both hands and brings it to her chest, at that moment a smile breaks out on her face and start to bouncing on the bed without stopping.
The first thing i do when I see Affra that bouncing on the bed is to take the sword and put it on the floor as fast as I can.
"What happened?"
"I found out that language can still be found and it's not just in the books!
How can I not be happy?
I was worried that I wouldn't find anything related to the language from the books."
Affra jumps on the bed one more time, while is in the air she stretches her body and falls directly on the bed.
"I have a feeling that if we manage to solve mystery we will change the world.
Before I forget, here's your talisman."
Suddenly a knock on the door, I wonder who it is this time.
"Affra is me. It's time to go."
"Okay! Come on Teo, let's go."
Affra extends her hand towards me.
I take her hand and let myself be pulled by her to the gate of the castle, there we see my parents and her father waiting for us in front of a carriage.
"O, ho, ho, ho..." Mom looks at us with a strange smile on her face, and Affra lets go of my hand when she hears her voice.
"Did something happen Affra? Why are you laughing mom?"
"It's nothing dear. Hmm."
She says this while keeping the strange smile on her face, I turn my head and see Affra sitting with her head bowed.
"It's time for us to leave, Affra."
Affra goes to the carriage and gets into it after her father.
"King Dorian Țepeș, Queen Mako Akihito. Thank you very much for the invitation to your son's birthday."
"You're welcome again next year Affra, especially since you've gotten along so well with my son."
"Teo, I promise you'll have a big surprise when you come to my birthday."
"I can't wait to see it."
Hmm. Come to think of it, I don't know when Affra's birthday is.
"Affra, I'm ashamed to ask this, but when is your birthday?"
"You're right, I didn't get to tell you.
My birthday is on October 25th in about 4 months."
"Okay Affra, and did you take the books yes?"
"Of course, I have them right here."
Affra takes the books that were on the seat in her hand and shows them to me.
"I wish you a safe journey Affra and King Shaiord."
"Take care Affra."
"See you again my dear friend."
After father has said the last words Shaiord closes the carriage door and the coachman hits the two horses harnessed to the carriage with the reins.
"Aaahh..."Now I'm really sleepy.
We go to the castle, my parents go to their room and I in to my room.
I lay down on the bed, start rolling on the mattress until I reach the opposite side of the bed, my face is facing the ceiling and my left hand hangs next to the bed touching the floor in search of the sword.
I grab the sword by the handle, pick it up from the floor, put it in the sheath and place it on my chest, I also bring my right hand to my chest to grip the handle of the sword with both hands.
"Aaahh... I have the sword, now I have to wait another 4 months for Affra to translate the book."
Time will pass quickly, especially now that I'm going to knight school.
I yawn more and more often and my eyes refuse to stay open, in less than a minute I fall asleep with the sword on my chest holding it tightly in my hands.