 ꓅ꆂꐇꏸꑛ ꓅ꑛꍟ ꌚꀗꐟ  ᵃ ʳᵉʸˡᵒ ᵃᵘ

ꏸꑛꋫꉣ꓅ꍟ꒓ ꍟꂑꁍꑛ꓅  ꓅ꑛꍟ ꄘꂑꁹꋫ꒒ ꁕꐇꍟ꒒

꓅he final duel would be between Rey and Ben.

They stood face to face in the arena, armed with their wooden practice swords. All eyes were on them as the fate of this event now lay between them.

Ben smirked flirtatiously and showed off a few swings with his sword as if to impress her.

Rey only glared in return, looking at him as if she was about to fight a battle to the death.

"Begin," her father called.

Without a moment's hesitation, Rey lunged at him. She swung her sword at his head, but he ducked easily beneath it. She struck again, this time she aimed for his exposed ribs. She didn't seem to care that real sword or not, it could easily break them. But he blocked her just in time.

It went on like this for several moments. Rey lashing out in anger, Ben blocking easily. It seemed they could go on this way forever.

To a viewer it might have seemed that they were equally matched. But that the battle was going slightly in the favor of the Princess. But what the onlookers, and Rey alike did not realise was that Ben was going easy on her. He didn't want to hurt the girl he hoped to marry. So he was careful to give plenty of opportunity to block him. He didn't think he could forgive himself if he bruised up her face like he had Finn's.

He had to try to beat her though. If he didn't he might lose her. But every time he was about to strike, his compassion for her stilled his blade.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus. He tried not to think about those hazel eyes, those soft lips. The freckles that were sprinkled on her cheeks. All those little details about her that seemed to have him distracted.

She swung her sword at him again. This time he grabbed her wrist in order to stop her blow. He could hear her inhale sharply as he pulled her closer to him.

"Surrender Princess," he whispered. He looked into her eyes and a smirk touched his lips. "I don't want to hurt you."

She looked at him, then pulled away. "You surrender," she replied sternly. A devilish grin spread across her face. "I'd hate to scar your pretty face."

But Ben only smirked at her taunt. "You think I'm pretty?"

Rey groaned, then swung her sword at him again.

He was a little too late in blocking her this time. He'd been distracted. The sword hit his shoulder, the pain pulsed through his arm making it difficult for him to continue holding his sword up. But he managed to block her next blow.

He continued blocking her blows with ease. But he quickly realised that there was no way he could win this duel. He couldn't risk hurting her. Even if he tried to be gentle, he was afraid that he would hurt her by mistake. There might be one way he could stop her without hurting her.

As she swung an overhead blow at him again, he grabbed her wrist. He held on just tight enough that she couldn't move. He hoped that she would grow impatient and just give in.

She struggled a bit, but to his surprise she reached down and grabbed his wrist as well. She squeezed as if trying to force him to drop his sword, but he didn't budge.

She stepped closer to him and he felt his heart race. She leaned closer to him as if to kiss him. His heart raced, did she really feel the same way he felt?

He leaned towards her, ready to feel the soft touch of her lips. Instead he was met with a hard blow from her sword. But his heart ached worse than his shoulder where she'd struck him. He couldn't believe that she had tricked him, used his feelings for her against him. Didn't she understand that to him she wasn't just some prize to be won? He wanted to marry her because he had begun to fall in love with her.

She moved to strike him again as he seemed unfazed by the first blow.

He caught her sword in his hand, and pulled it from her grasp.

She tried to take it back from him, but he held it high over his head.

He gently pressed the edge of his sword against her neck to show her that he'd bested her.

"Do you yield, my lady?"

Rey groaned in defeat. "I yield," she said at last.

~  ~

There was another feast in the grand hall that evening. It was typical for the games to be accompanied by feasts each night.

Rey walked towards the grand hall to join the others. She'd just finished changing out of the simple dress she'd worn during the duels, and into a slightly nicer one.

She groaned under her breath as she saw Ben standing in the hall just ahead of her. He was admiring some of her family tapestries.

As he heard her approach, he turned to look at her. "Good evening m'lady."

"Good evening," she replied starkly.

He came over to walk next to her. She did her best to ignore him.

He stared at her for a moment, a smirk on his face. "Were you going to kiss me earlier?"

She crossed her arms. "I would never kiss you. I was only trying to distract you."

"Well, it worked. I've thought of nothing else."

She was quiet for a moment. "I could have beaten you."

He smirked again. "Aye, if you'd actually kissed me you could have just taken my sword while I was distracted."

"Well next time I'll beat you, and I won't need a distraction to do it."

He smiled. "Of course, m'lady."

She didn't reply.

He grabbed her hand to stop her. She turned to look at him. "I care about you, and I don't want you to get hurt. I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No. I can handle myself."

He nodded, relieved. "I know."

They were both silent for a moment. Then he smiled, leaning closer to her. "You owe me a kiss," he whispered, his warm breath tickling her cheek.

She gently pushed him away. "I do not."

He smiled, he could tell that she was blushing.

"I should go, they're probably looking for me," she said, walking away.

Ben hurried to catch up with her. "So no kiss?"

"No," she replied.