Conscious of reverence surrounding a king (5)
I believe the answer is:
awake
'conscious' is the definition.
('awake' can be similar in meaning to 'conscious')
'reverence surrounding a king' is the wordplay.
'reverence' becomes 'awe' ('awe' can be a synonym of 'reverence').
'surrounding' indicates putting letters inside.
'king' becomes 'k' (**).
'a'+'k'='ak'
'awe' going around 'ak' is 'AWAKE'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for awake that I've seen before include "On the ball?" , "Rouse; vigilant" , "Conscious, aware" , "Not asleep" , "Cease sleeping" .)