Rescuing Rapunzel Read Free

had brought all three men’s families together a generation before, and Nick loved, and at times loathed, the two of them like brothers.  
    “Liar.” Penn slashed with his sword, the attack quick and lethal.
    Nick slammed his sword against Penn’s shield in an effort to block him. Nick had size and strength but Penn, more lean and wiry, had always used his speed to his advantage.
    Many days, they were evenly matched.
    Today was not one of those days.
    Two things threw their balance off. Nick had not been sleeping well, and Penn had an audience. The training practices were always quite a show for the women who stood in the windows overlooking the yard. Even now, soft feminine giggles flitted down, fueling Penn’s attack.
    At least today no women were in the courtyard, circling like vultures.
    Not that Nick cared. None of those women meant anything to him. Especially considering his sister Enrika and her little playmates were the prime watchers. They invaded every spring, claiming to visit Kiki whereas their true motivation was to land a husband, preferably a Charming Noble.
    Penn and Bryan were there not because they were looking for wives but because they loved the attention. Even from girls barely out of the schoolroom. Kiki being one of them.
    “You shall never win a lady with this performance,” Penn said, taunting him as he threw two more quick strikes.
    “As if I would want such babies…” Nick blocked a particularly jarring blow from Penn.
    Penn spun and, as he came around, sword at the ready, he winked at the women in the window. “Those babies are all legal to be wed, even your sister.”
    Nick gritted his teeth. “Kiki is barely a woman.”
    He slashed out with his sword. None of those maids were worth his time. They were all children, as far as he was concerned. They followed him constantly, giggling and whispering, which only served to emphasize their youth. Kiki, the ringleader, seemed to practically thrive on their foolish behavior.
    “She is almost one and twenty,” Bryan added from the side, sipping his drink, a smile not quite hidden by his cup.
    Nick glanced at Bryan. “I do not particularly like the idea of you paying attention to my sister. She is a girl. A child.”
    Bryan snorted. “Thou shalt not covet thy friend’s sister.”
    Penn swung his sword at Nick. “Someone should covet her. She is growing up.”
    Nick snarled, countering as best he could, but with a few quick strokes Penn had him disarmed.
    Again.
    Nick lunged at Penn, shoved his weapon aside and wrapped a hand around his throat. “Go near her and we shall no longer be practicing, Eisenburg.”
    Penn punched him in the side of the head, making Nick stumble and release him. “Even I know better than that.”
    Nick growled, glaring at his best friend.
    Bryan burst out laughing, accompanied by a few of the soldiers who practiced nearby. “It is good nothing is bothering you.”
    The laughter would not have been quite so biting if he did not hear his sister adding to it. He glared at the tower and saw a wisp of her sleeve as she darted away from the window. He rolled his eyes. No doubt she was off to report this to someone–the girl knew more about the happenings at the castle than anyone. Rumor had it servants came to her with their gossip.
    He turned to Bryan, who was still leisurely sipping his ale, and gestured with his sword. “Come on then, von Thalunburg. The same for you.”
    Bryan shrugged. “You know I do not use swords.” He glanced at the window. “I have more interesting talents.”
    He did not show off for the ladies like Penn, but then, Bryan never had to. Women naturally flocked to him. If only he could work out how to talk to them once they had. It was quite entertaining because women tended to cast him as the strong, silent type when in truth Bryan was simply too tongue-tied to spit out a complete sentence.
    Bryan reached for the bow at his side and, before Nick could more than blink, he had fired an