Everyone was now awake except for Keith. This was the first time so they were all a bit surprised.

"Should we..uh..wake him up?" One of the knights asked and even though some of them nodded, Katie shook her head.

"He probably stayed up, knowing him." Mark said with a hand on his chin and Theo nodded with his eyes closed.

"Most likely." Theo said and Katie nodded.

"That's why we shouldn't wake him up yet." She said, trying to convince the other men, "Sleepy Prince means bumpy ride."

All the other men nodded to her statement but little did she know he was right behind her.

"Sleepy Prince equals bumpy ride?" Keith said already in his traveling clothes and Katie jumped away from him.

"Um..Sir." She said in a lower voice, "I didn't mean that."

"Really?" He said with a slight smile on his lips, "I thought it was funny."

Katie tried her best to not blush at the comment but it happened anyway and she pretended to laugh it off.

"Ha.Ha.Ha." She said in a monotone voice and Mark tapped her from behind.

"You're embarrassing yourself really bad." He whispered smiling and she gulped and closed her mouth. Why did she always mess up in front of him? She groaned to herself as Keith walked away with a confused look.

As soon as he left, Mark burst out laughing making everyone else laugh.

"What the heck was that?" He said still laughing pretending to wipe tears.

"I'm seriously the unluckiest." She said, her shoulders slumping as she walked off to get some breakfast too.

After they made sure everyone was done with their breakfast, they got on their horses with their items and left for Emberlands. 

Katie hid her face from Keith and tried to stay away from him.

"Are you still embarrassed about that?" Theo asked with a teasing smile and she looked away from him.

"I'm sure he'll forget soon." He said and she sighed in relief.

"Although that is something difficult to forget." He added and she glared at him.

"Stop teasing me." She said, unaware that she was pouting like a child. She fixed her face quickly and went ahead of him, accidentally riding besides Keith.

A small noise of surprise came out of her lips and Keith turned to her with amused eyes.

"Oh, I thought I was leading." He said almost serious, his eyes back on the road but she caught a hint of a smile from his voice. She didn't respond so he turned back to her.

"I was joking." He said sheepishly and she nodded, avoiding his eyes because she didn't want to say anything embarrassing again. He glanced at her one last time and then focused his eyes on the map and the road.

After a few hours they took a water break in the shade. Katie took a sip but then realized her container was empty. She sighed and went to Keith.

"Um..Sir Keith." She said awkwardly not looking at him and held up her water container. "May I see the map for sources of fresh water?" 

"Sure." He said and handed her the map. She took a glance and immediately got lost in the pictures and words.

'Darn it!' She thought, 'I shouldn't have fell asleep during Shiro's lesson on how to read maps!' 

"Do..you need help?" Keith asked looking from her shoulder and she was forced to turn to him and his violet eyes. 

She nodded shamefully and he smiled, getting the map back in his hands and took a look at it. He pointed at a skinny blue line on the map.

"That's the closest fresh water source closest to us." He said and Katie squinted to get a better look at it. It was so tiny on the map, how did Keith see it?

"That's right." He said seeing how she was squinting, "Your glasses are broken."

Katie nodded putting a hand on her bag where the glasses were.

"Maybe we'll find a blacksmith when we get there.." He mumbled off while Katie got her container back in her hands.

"Thank you for your help." She said quickly and walked off but was stopped by Keith.

"Wait Pidge." He said and she turned back, "You're going the wrong way."

"Oh." She said, her face warming up.

'How embarrassing.' She thought as she went back to Keith.

He explained the way to get there but she got more confused trying to remember it so he just offered to go with her and she accepted.

"I'll teach you how to read maps later so you won't get lost when I'm not with you." He said as he led her to the water source.

"Okay." She said shortly, embarrassed as she followed him.

They took a few more turns and saw a small stream. Katie put her fingers through it and drank from it. It had a taste of mint from the mint leaves that fell but overall it tasted fresh. She grabbed her container and filled it up with the stream's minty water, enough to last her a few more trips.

"Why is it that you look exactly like her?" Keith mumbled with soft eyes and Katie turned to him unable to hide her surprised expression.

"Like who Sir?" She asked hesitantly hoping he wasn't talking about her.

"Ah, it's nothing." He said and turned away so she wouldn't see his expression. "Just my first love..who probably already forgot about me."

Katie froze. He couldn't possibly be talking about her right? She didn't know so she just patted his back awkwardly.

"You always respond in the best ways." He said smiling and she couldn't help but smile back sheepishly. He led the way back with the map and they got back to their resting place.

"You're back?" Theo said to Katie and then noticed Keith behind her.

"I need to learn how to read maps." She said rubbing her neck and he smiled but it almost looked sad.

"I'm sure our Prince here will teach you." Mark said putting an arm around Keith's neck and grinned.

After a few more minutes under the shade of the trees, they got back on their horses and headed for Emberlands. Katie could tell they were getting closer because the skies were darker than usual and the temperature was colder for the almost-end-of the fall season.

There was an old looking wooden sigh that said "Emberlands". She shivered as they entered the Kingdom that shouldn't even be considered one. Everyone including Katie raised their guards up as they rode slowly through the streets of the dark kingdom. 

The people there almost looked like the blood-sucking vampires from scary books she read when she was younger. Their skins were pale, they stayed away from the light, and their eyes seemed to pierce through Katie and the men.

She stood up straighter and held her chin high, trying to look braver.

'Hopefully we won't have to stay here too long..'