When she did do so, she looked up into his eyes, where she saw the first chinks in the armor of confidence that he seemed to wear so effortlessly.
His eyes kept darting to the trinkets and then to somewhere below with nervous trepidation, and even his hands kept drumming the throne he was on, as if he was too excited to keep them at his side.
"You're… Afraid of something."
She blurted this out before she could understand what she was saying, and right after she did, she clasped her two hands around her mouth, and shook her head, as if hoping that that movement would indicate that she had not meant what she said.
Yet, the king's reaction put her at ease.
