" I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes in order to be sure that even at their worst they are loved. Irene knows how frightened he is."

The King didn't sound frightened.

"Any minute," said Eddis, "he will realise--"
As if her words were magic, silence fell in the tent and Eddis finished in a whisper. "How frightened she is. "

― Megan Whalen Turner , Return of the Thief (The Queen's Thief, #6)