I received 5 prompt words from newsletter subscribers, and all were incorporated into this bonus scene:
ale, marks, bloom, ink, tavern
Marcelo
Queen Giselle of Sheburat was trying, or at least her son, Prince Marcelo, sensed that she was. She refrained from sniffing in derision, but a bloom of flush crept up her neck when Marcelo accompanied his husband, Efren, the crown prince of Zioneven, into Sheburat’s assembly chamber where a new trade agreement between the two realms was to be signed.
Marcelo nodded politely to his mother, the queen, and diplomatically also restrained himself by not allowing a smug grin to curl his lips. His presence was not, by any means, merely for show. She’d likely known that for a couple years now.
Efren gave Marcelo’s hand a gentle press before relinquishi
