Coming out of his room Alexander found himself in what would be best described as a common area for the tent. There were two sofas in the middle of the room surrounding a low table. On one side of the room there was a smaller dining table and on the other there was a desk and chair. At the moment Alice was sitting in one of the sofas. She turned towards Alexander seeing him coming out.
"I am glad the clothes fit you so well. It was quite lucky that one of the majors had insisted on bringing his charge. Otherwise you would have had to wear something that would have been too large. Now please come and have a seat."
Alexander slowly made his way over and sat down in the sofa opposite of Alice. She indicate for him to have some of the tea or snacks laid out on the low table. He was feeling quite nervous at this moment and didn't want to show it. Deciding that it would be easier to appear normal by just sitting back in the sofa instead of going for any of the snacks.
"As I said earlier you will be adopted into my family. Unfortunately I can't send you to Bryn for a few days. We are planning to do another push soon, so I can't arrange for the travel you see. From what I heard from Doctor Linden you are from Tiramdal in the Duchy of Holther. Seeing as you were an orphan I assume you didn't learn how to read or write?"
"Yes Lady Firestorm. I never learned to read or write either in the orphanage or when I worked at an inn later."
"You are to be my grandchild, no need for any of that lady stuff. Alice, grandma, granny or if you feel like you have to be polite madam also works. And when you get angry at me just call me old hag."
Alexander's mouth dropped open at the last sentence from Alice.
"Hahaha, look at your face. I just needed you to relax. So you were at an orphanage. What kind of orphanage and how long did you stay there?"
"Hem, hem… The orphanage was run by a monastery, I think it was called the Saint Miranda Monastery or something. Just around the time I had been there for six years the baron cut their funding and they had to send away the children. I followed a group of older kids to Tiramdal and ended up being caught by an innkeeper trying to steal food. Then I worked for him for a while to pay for the stolen items. After that he was kind enough to let me continue working. I stayed there until around two months ago when I heard the army was recruiting."
"I see, so how old are you now? I know that the Verenden army has a minimum age of sixteen but you are clearly younger. Especially since seeds blossom between the age of 12 and 15."
"I think that I should be around 14 or so. We didn't really celebrate birthdays or anything at the orphanage nor at the inn."
"Lets say 14 and 5 months then hmm. That way you can have a proper birthday next year when you turn 15. But back to the main issue of you not knowing how to read or write. Since it will be a few days before I can send you on your way you will be starting to learn to read at the very least. Hopefully you will even start some writing by the time I can send you. Since you already know Doctor Linden I will ask him to help you with that, at the same time you can help him with small tasks. Can't really have you just sitting around in the tent trying on your own. Of course the reading and writing will be in Lareen so you will also be learning to speak it."
Getting to learn how to read and write, despite it being in another language from what he could speak, was a goal finally in reach. After having been in this new world for those 14 or so years and not being able to write down anything or read any books was not fun. Alexander would do his best to learn to read and write quickly. Since he already knew how to read and write in languages in his previous life, it would hopefully be easier to do so now.
"I will have Doctor Linden come here as soon as possible, so you can just sit here and wait. I will also have someone bring some food, I imagine you are starting to get quite hungry. Since I have many duties to attend to I will hopefully get to see you in the evening."
Indicating for Alexander to remain seated Alice stood up and walked out of the tent. Once she had left Alexander felt a bit more relaxed. So he dared to take some of the snacks laid out on the table. He grabbed what looked to be a biscuit of some sort. It was quite sweet and a bit dry. Grabbing another biscuit he found this one to be much saltier, and would probably have tasted better with some cheese on it.
Whilst Alexander was eating the snacks, or more like gorging on them, someone entered the tent. He didn't notice them until a plate of food was put down on the table besides the remaining snacks. Looking up he could see a woman in her early twenties. Seeing him looking at her she smiled and nodded towards the food. She then proceeded to grab the plate of snacks and the tea set before turning too leave.
The food that had been brought looked quite good. It seemed to be a dish made of potatoes, some form of steak, some greens and brown sauce. In addition to the plate of food a glass of water had also been placed on the table. Even though he felt like he had eaten a lot of snacks his stomach growled at the sight of the food. He quickly grabbed the fork and knife and dug in. The food felt heavenly compared to what he had eaten so far in his life. The steak almost melted in his mouth. And the sauce was just perfect. One would assume he was partaking in a speed eating competition by the look of how quickly he finished the food.
Alexander leaned back in the sofa once the food was gone. He felt like he might explode if he was presented with anything more. If this was how his life was going to be, or better, he didn't mind at all going along with everything. Good food, learning new and old skills, and perhaps a new family. He couldn't have wished for something so good a mere day ago.
It wasn't long after he finished his food that Doctor Linden came to the tent.
"Greetings Alexander. You seem extremely well considering everything. I must say I didn't expect at all that this would be the outcome of your sudden healing. Though I am rather glad that someone your age don't have to be a soldier any longer. Now, today I am not going to have you help me with anything but we will start on your reading and writing. We will also see if we can get you started on speaking Lareen."
Doctor Linden then indicated for Alexander to follow him over to the desk. He then brought over a chair from the dining table and grabbed a book from a trunk near the desk. He also grabbed a quill, some ink and a stack of paper. Setting all of it on the desk.
"I think the easiest way we can do this is to go through the alphabet and have you associate the sounds with how a letter is written. It might be a bit difficult, especially since we will be doing the sounds in Lareen, but I believe you are capable of this."
Alexander could do nothing but nod at his words. They then started going through the different letters of the Lareen alphabet. In some ways he felt that the script used in writing when paired with the sound reminded him of the Latin alphabet Each sound had for the most part a letter associated with it. There were of course some exceptions to this, but that wasn't unexpected as the same could be said for English.
They continued with just the alphabet for what must have been two hours. After that they did some simple reading exercises where Alexander tried to sound out words. Even though he knew how to read and write in English it was quite difficult. At this time each word was just a collection of letters. But it didn't take long for him to say a word correctly from its written form.
In many ways, the fact that he had never learned how to read or write in Vereen helped. He didn't have any associations between words and letters from before thus could with more ease associate them with Lareen sounds. They continued with this mix of reading, writing and speaking Lareen until it got dark outside.
"I must say Alexander, you have a real talent for this. My son back in Miran took from the age of 4 until age 10 to properly learn how to read, write and speak properly. Though you are still far from the level he was at when he got to age 10, you are making very good progress. Tomorrow I think I have some ideas how we can improve your writing and reading at a greater speed, I will also be almost only speak Lareen to force you to learn."
"Thank you for helping him Nicklas, how about you join us for supper before heading off?"
Both Alexander and Doctor Linden had been so occupied by their task that they didn't notice Alice coming back.
"No problem at all Grand Magus. I would love to join you for supper."
All three of them made their way to the dining table and sat down. The same woman from earlier in the day and a man arrived just as they had seated themselves. They carried three plates of food, two glasses of what might be wine and a glass of juice. The food this time was a heavy beef soup and some white bread with butter.
During the meal Linden and Alice chatted in Lareen, making it rather hard for Alexander to follow the conversation. Of course they knew he wouldn't be able to participate but noted that it was also to help him pick up the language quicker. Luckily for Alexander the meal didn't take too long to finish and Linden bid his farewell and departed just before the plates were taken away.
"It sounds from what Niklas had to say that you are progressing already in your studies. I am very glad to hear that, I hadn't really expected you to make any progress before heading off to Bryn. You should head of to sleep now so you can get up as early as possible tomorrow. There won't be anyone to wake you and you don't really have any time by which you must be awake. But I do hope you wake up early anyway When you do wake up, just head outside the tent and talk to one of the soldiers. Just ask them to send for some food and for Niklas. The current guards I have understand Vereen, though I hope you try to speak in Lareen. Have a good sleep Alex."
Alice smiled at Alexander before leaving the table and heading towards the only other door in the tent besides his. Feeling quite tired he listened to what she had said and headed to his room. There he quickly got undressed and got into the bed. Laying down was magical, a proper mattress pillow and duvet. How he had missed that feeling. They were just like he remembered from his previous life, perhaps even better. The bed was so good that he quickly fell asleep looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.