"Cheers, my friends. It has been a glorious day."

The king lifted his glass – an exquisite piece of the finest crystal, and worth over ten thousand gold on its own – in celebration. His assembled court mimicked the action gaily. Everybody was in high spirits; the Princesses' ceremony had gone without a hitch, save a small riot amongst the aristocrats. The king didn't care about such details, personally: his soldiers were out searching for the perpetrators as they drank.

They were gathered at a truly mammoth table, circular in design and filling the palace's dining room. Its edges were gilded with ornate decorations, depicting the rule of the Valuan royal family for over three hundred years. A large segment of it yet remained blank, ready at any time to be added to – and the current king was all too prepared to contribute his own legacy to the display. These designs, however, were not in evidence this night: no, the table was instead covered in foods of all kinds, the finest delicacies from all corners of the known world. Servants circled the table constantly, attending to every demand for more wine or for food that was, currently, somewhere on the other side of the table. Fresh platters constantly replaced old and emptied ones. For being such refined creatures, the court was full of truly ravenous men and women.

The queen and the Princess had already departed for bed, leaving the king surrounded by none but his finest officers: the admirals. Four of the most powerful men in all of Valua. The king, himself, served as Lord Admiral, though he was toying with the notion of handing power over to one of his subordinates – Mendoza, perhaps. That, however, was not the point of this meeting. Another issue pressed on his mind tonight.

Admiral De Loco was grinning knowingly at the king. He was the only one amongst them privy to the knowledge the king was about to spring on them all: indeed, he had come up with the idea in the first place. The diminutive admiral stroked his curling, purple moustache and adjusted his monocle. Nobody could ever tell what the man was thinking, nor, in general, did they want to know: De Loco was infamous for his twisted views on life. In this case, however, the man had been rather astute in his suggestions.

The king set aside his drink and cleared his throat. "I would imagine that you are all wondering why I called you here today. After all, the Princesses' birthday is not for another three months. Oh, and please speak freely tonight, if you wish."

Most did not follow this sudden change in decorum. They knew better. His admirals, however, took advantage of his offer. Mendoza, ever outspoken, assumed centre-stage first. "Quite true, my liege: it was rather sudden, after all. Still beautifully executed, of course, but it left most of us wondering if, perhaps, you had some ulterior motive." He nodded graciously and dabbed at the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

The king smiled. "Yes, well, you would be correct. Though my announcement is in the planning stages at best, I thought it prudent that I get it out of the way. No doubt you have all been quite aware of the difficulties we have been enduring lately in regards to our 'front gate', so to speak."

They did. 'Front gate' referred to the Strait of Delium, the primary causeway into Valua. It had recently turned into a considerable security nuisance: pirates, both black and blue, had become increasingly daring in making forays into Valuan territory, using the Strait both as a means of accessing Valuan airspace and as an escape route. The Valuan navy, still in its fledgling years, was not capable of both patrolling their territory and guarding the Strait on a constant basis. Piracy rates had tripled in the last three years.

"We cannot suffer the loses incurred by undesirables entering our country on a whim any longer. We must stabilise Valua if it is, as we one day hope, to become a major player internationally. The Strait of Delium must be plugged up artificially." A cadre of 'here here!'s circled the table at this comment.

Admiral Corlus, a tall, ancient man with a penchant for keeping things 'by the book', raised one fuzzy eyebrow in consideration. "Artificially, my lord? With all due respect, that would require a barrier of incredible breadth and girth. Do we have the resources to accomplish such a feat?"

Before the king could reply, De Loco threw in his two cents. His voice was high and raspy. "Of course we can! I, personally, have calculated the sum total of our raw materials. Our fine nation is fully capable of erecting this barrier."

The king ignored De Loco's impudence. The man had proved his worth enough times that some amount of leeway was necessary. "Indeed. That is why we are here, my friends: both to celebrate my daughter's ascendancy, and to announce the creation of an impenetrable form of defence for Valua." He nodded at De Loco.

De Loco, his grin expanding with every second, snapped his fingers. At his beck and call, a servant duo, situated at both ends of a long, velvet curtain that adorned the wall – the nobles had assumed that it hid a fresh portrait of the young Princess – tugged upon a pair of long, twined ropes and brought the curtain sliding upwards. Beneath it was, instead, a gigantic painting of a deep emerald wall. It stretched across was appeared to be the entirety of the mouth of the Strait of Delium. A huge, embossed crest adorned the centre of it.

The court, needless to say, was awed. De Loco rubbed his hands together in glee.

The king coughed lightly and continued. "This is the Grand Fortress of Valua, as proposed by Admiral De Loco. It will render our nation virtually impregnable to attack, if all goes as planned. I have agreed to contribute the necessary materials to Admiral De Loco's project; he will manage its construction from start to finish."

His crowd was stunned speechless. Eve the admirals, save De Loco, could find no words to express themselves.

De Loco took it from there. "With this, we will rule the world. You understand? We will rule everything! Nobody will defy us ever again!"

Mendoza, predictably enough, was the first to find his words again. "H. . . how do you plan on building it, though? From whom will we draw our labour force? Without a sufficient base of support, it'll take decades to construct this!"

At these words, De Loco's smile grew insidious. His eyes narrowed. "Oh, you just leave that to me, Admiral. Just leave that to me."