A heated exchange

Master gets up from his throne before he continues. "Everything you see here," he begins, "has been built up by us goblins. By me, and my father before me, and his father before him, as chiefs of this village!" He takes several steps towards the princess. "And you," he places emphasis on "you", pointing an accusatory finger at her, "ask me to just hand it all to some far-away human king who does not even come to demand this himself?"

The princess can only stand there with her mouth slightly agape, unsure of how to respond. "Well, you see, this would be a mutually beneficial agreement-" is all that she can stammer out before Master interrupts her again.

"You keep saying 'mutually beneficial', but all I'm hearing is that you want to send your people here and exploit our resources! We will not allow that!" At this point, Master is standing eye to eye with the princess, the steps up to his throne leveling their height difference. Her two knights are staring up at him as well, hands at the ready on their swords in case the argument boils over. The princess, by now obviously unprepared for these negotiations, has no response and simply stares back at the goblin leader with a furrowed brow.

Master takes a step back, letting the room settle for a moment while reaching for something stashed behind his throne. "There is no way I can accept this injustice," he begins. "But I know how you humans work. If I just refuse you and let you go, I know you will simply be back again with more soldiers to **** my hand."

The three human guests get visibly nervous at this statement, and as Master pulls out a gnarled wooden staff the two knights brace themselves for potential combat. The princess is about to stammer a half-hearted reply before she is interrupted again. "No. I must make an example of you," he continues. He sneaks you a pointed look, silently asking you to be ready for anything. "You need to be taught a lesson, princess!" Master exclaims as he holds his staff out in one hand as the tip begins to glow. Her bodyguards instantly recognize that something suspicious is happening and jump to their feet, unsheathing their swords and beginning to step up to the throne.