yarrr, ye scurvy boy-king, halt ye whinin'

Costis heard the queen's voice over his head. "Do tell me why I should come to the barracks to speak to my guard?"

And Eugenides answered, as calmly, "You could have summoned him."

"You would have come, too? Following like the tail behind the dog?"

"Am I insufficiently kinglike? Costis has been telling me so."

"Unkingly, in so many ways, My King. Not the least of which is listening to your guard telling you so."

Eugenides accepted the rebuke without a word.

from The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner