To show fear, ruler cried out (5)
I believe the answer is:
shake
'to show fear' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'ruler cried out' is the wordplay.
'ruler' becomes 'K' (abbreviation for king in chess).
'cried' becomes 'shae' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'out' is an insertion indicator.
'k' placed inside 'shae' is 'SHAKE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shake that I've seen before include "Tremble, quake" , "Upset" , "Jolt or agitate" , "Quiver" , "Judder" .)