They still had maybe four or five hundred metres to go, and he could see her feet dragging, could see how much focus she was having to put in to simply moving each step. Why did every woman he knew have to be so stubborn? She was no match for Marian in those stakes, but she was bad enough.
And at the speed they were walking, blood loss was going to become too serious an issue before they reached the house. And that was what decided it for him. He swung his bow up and over his shoulder, slipping her sword in to his own belt before he put a hand on her arm to stop her.
"You'll have to get annoyed later, but this is taking too long." That said he lifted her up and in to his arms, one beneath her knees, the other around her shoulders, still holding her flowers.