Smoke and Mirrors

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DING - DONG - DING

Lance opened his eyes and frowned. Surely he had to be dreaming that he'd just heard mess call.

DING - DONG - DING.

Keith sat up. 'Hell no,' he said. 'Did they seriously put in a mess call?'

'Sounds like it,' groaned Lance. 'We've only been asleep a few hours. Why the hell would they do that?'

Lance and Keith got up and went into the corridor to find equally confused and annoyed paladins standing there.

Dobree strode down the corridor. 'Come on cadets, get moving. Do you want breakfast served in bed?'

They stood in silence and watched him continue down the corridor.

'I'm going to stab him,' Keith muttered and went back into the bedroom.

Lance looked at Shiro. 'Are they seriously going to run the Castle like the Garrison?'

'I don't know,' said Shiro, running his hands over his face. 'I will talk to Mitchell when we get back.'

They returned to their rooms, showered and made their way down to the dining room. Lance made sure Keith didn't sit anywhere near Dobree, and poured himself and Keith a cup of coffee. Shiro, Hunk and Pidge sat opposite them.

There was a huge assortment of food on the table, and while it smelt great, Lance found he was too tired to eat. Next to him, Keith folded his arms on the table and lay his head on them.

Hunk made an effort to eat, but for someone who loved food, it was only a half hearted effort.

Other members of the staff that now occupied the Castle came in and helped themselves and sat at the opposite end of the table from them, all leaning in and whispering to each other about Keith.

Lance looked down to the other end of the table. 'Just so you know, Galran have excellent hearing.'

Red faced they looked down at their food and, except for the sound of cutlery on plates, the room went silent.

'Cadet that was uncalled for,' Dobree said.

'So was what they were saying,' said Lance. 'I don't see why we have to sit here and listen to them gossip about Keith like that. They are talking about things that have nothing to do with them.'

'General,' said Shiro. 'Lance imparted a fact about Galran hearing. I don't believe he was rude.'

'It's not for a cadet to admonish anyone,' said Dobree. 'That is for his commanding officer to do.'

Keith sat up. 'We're paladins, not cadets.'

'You never finished your training,' said Dobree. 'In the eyes of the Garrison, you are cadets. Well, they are, you are a civilian because you were kicked out.'

'Hmm, well since Lance was also discharged from the Garrison, he's also a civilian,' said Keith. 'I'm assuming you consider the Castle part of Garrison property?'

'It is,' Dobree said smugly.

'According to Article 2, Paragraph 5 of the Garrison war manual, civilians are not to be on military property in the time or war,' said Keith. 'So, Lance and I will just pack our shit together, call my mum for a lift back to Earth, and get out of here.'

Keith stood, and Lance hastily followed suit.

'Sit down,' Dobree growled through clenched teeth.

Shiro motioned for them to sit when they didn't move. 'Sir, staff need to realised that non humans have different abilities to humans and nothing should be said or done while they are in the Castle. Everything heard and seen within the Castle should remain top secret. We have spent two and a half years with just six or seven of us in the Castle and without the need to worry about what we do or say where. For us to remain working as a team, that needs to stay in place. We can't work effectively if we have to call a meeting to talk about something, and we need autonomy in order to do our job. The paladins answer to me, and only me.'