Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 14:15

"Now therefore seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant." — 2 Samuel 14:15 (ASV)

Because the people have made me afraid. —The woman here seeks to excuse her boldness in addressing the king by the external pressure brought upon her; but whether she means this in regard to what she has said of Absalom, or of her own affairs, is very doubtful. In the former case, the people would mean the nation generally; in the latter, her own family connections. Certainly, in the next verse, she returns to her own affairs to keep up the pretense of reality; but here there seems to be an intentional and studied ambiguity.