 ꓅ꆂꐇꏸꑛ ꓅ꑛꍟ ꌚꀗꐟ  ᵃ ʳᵉʸˡᵒ ᵃᵘ

ꏸꑛꋫꉣ꓅ꍟ꒓ ꄘꂑꏝꍟ  ꓅ꑛꍟ ꒓ꋫꏸꍟ

꓅he next event was a race on horseback, Rey and her three suitors went to the stables to prepare their horses.

"Good luck your highness," Ben said with a smirk. "You're going to need it, horseback racing is one of my better events."

"Mine too, and let's not forget that I hit the bullseye, while you were over there crying like a big baby," she answered.

"I wasn't crying, and if I was it's only because I don't want to lose you," he answered. He looked at her with big brown eyes as he said the last words.

Rey rolled her eyes, the three of them were quickly getting on her nerves acting as if they could beat her with ease one moment and then flirting with her the next, and doing a terrible job of it .

"When I win we'll see who's crying then," he continued.

"If you win I'll be crying because I don't want to be stuck with the likes of you," she answered, sharply.

Ben looked at her with a mixture of shock and hurt, he had no reply to that comeback; but he wasn't going to give up.

"Well, you might be the one crying; Ben, horseback racing is my best event," said Poe. "I could beat you blindfolded."

"We'll see about that," Ben replied, finally recovering from her blow.

~  ~

Moments later, they were all lined up on the starting line.

Rey looked at her competitors, Finn wasn't used to riding and looked uncomfortable in the saddle. Ben and Poe looked as if they were about to start racing before it was time to begin.

She reached down to stroke Falcon's long grey mane. "We can do this, Falcon," she whispered.

Falcon whinnied in reply.

"On your mark," her father called over the cheers of the crowd.

The four racers moved so that they were standing on the line.

"Get set."

They held their reins ready.

"Go!"

At that one word they flicked their reins and their horses raced ahead, then they brought them up to a gallop. Finn began to fall behind as he was an inexperienced rider, but the other three racers were neck to neck.

Ben brought his horse up to her highest speed and Rey and Poe were quick to follow. They quickly caught up to him and they were neck to neck again.

Rey could see the finish line just ahead, if she could pull ahead of the others, even just slightly she could win. "Come on Falcon," she encouraged.

But as she brought her horse to a greater speed so did Ben and Poe.

As they crossed the finish line, they beat her by mere centimeters. Ben and Poe, however had been so close that no one could tell any difference in their timing. Of course Lord Solo and Lord Dameron argued that the nose of their son's horse had crossed just before the others.

"My son is the fastest rider in the highlands," said Lord Dameron.

"No, my son's the fastest, he learned from the best," Lord Solo pointed a thumb at himself.

"It was a tie," the King declared.

Rey sighed in frustration, she had only been a jiffy behind them, if only she could have sped up just a little more. But it wasn't over, now they were all tied, one point each.

"It took you long enough," Poe told Finn as he crossed the finish line.

Finn glared at him. "I'm just glad I didn't fall off of this thing, remind me never to do that again," he replied.

Rey giggled. "You just need more practice."

Finn nodded. "Noted."

Poe looked at Rey and Ben. "I told you that I was the best on horseback."

"So did I. We tied, remember?" he reminded him.

Poe shrugged. "Still, I won."

"So did I," Ben pointed out.

"Well don't go and get a bighead about it, you haven't won yet, there are still more events," Rey said. "Right now we're all tied, one point each. Everyone still has an opportunity to win."

"Well maybe I'll beat all of you in the next event," Finn said.

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow," Rey replied. "This was the last event of the day."

"I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see if we can break that tie," Ben answered.

"I guess we will," she answered coldly.