He gave a cry of delight as he saw her, and gripped her hands until they hurt.
"Astrid!"
"Why, Sigurd!" she replied, noting how he had grown, "what a big man you have become already! Oh, how glad I am to see you—and how I need you, too!" she added in a lower tone.
Sigurd gave her a quick, anxious look, then turned. "Here, Alfred, Sigrid!" he shouted, and the next minute the two girls were in each other's arms, while the crowd looked on, amazed. Sigurd told King Svein something of their tale, then the king ordered all to follow him to the castle.
"We can talk in peace there," he said. "Do you come up at once. My men will attend to your ships, so bring your warriors ashore and let them be entertained at the barracks."
Sigurd left this to Biorn, and the four young people followed Svein to the castle, where they seated themselves in the hall, below the high-seat.
"Now, how do you come to be here, of all places?" asked King Svein, who remembered Sigurd well. In return Sigurd told him about the rescue of Alfred and Sigrid. Svein nodded.
"I know the story. Jarl Alfwic is even now with my army in England. Go on."
"King Olaf," continued Sigurd, "sent Alfred and his sister to you asking that you take them with you to their father; or, if you could not do this, to see that they received a pilot to take them safely to Flanders. However, since you are going to England before long yourself, that is settled."
"Right glad will I be," replied the King, "to have the son of Jarl Alfwic with me. They will be safely delivered to the Jarl, have no fear."