Rescuing Rapunzel Read Free Page B

the girl.
    A glimpse.
    As if he were some moonstruck boy starved for a woman. As if there were not a feast of females all around the province to taste if he wanted them. Or a number of young ladies at the castle willing to be his wife, if that were what he craved.
    Still, the tower was in his mind more and more often. Though he had yet to get his glimpse, he had discovered the girl was not alone in the tower. He had seen another woman in the window and, occasionally, when the wind was right, had heard wisps of conversations that suggested she was the girl’s mother.
    Nonetheless, what troubled him was the tower itself. How did they get up and down? When did they leave? He had never seen either of them go in or come out, yet he was certain the girl had been alone that first night. And he had yet to hear her sing again, either, which left him disappointed each time he had returned.
    He was determined to figure this out, for it was a puzzle he could not resist. Not with that angel in the window, with a voice so beautiful it haunted his sleep every night.
    It was frustrating the hell out of him.
    Bryan ran his fingers through his hair. “What is her name?”
    Nick blinked. “Who?”
    “The girl who has you so tied up in knots.”
    “If she is in yonder window, she has probably lost all interest in you now.” Penn grinned in the devilishly charming way that wooed more women than any other noble in the province.
    Nick punched Penn in the shoulder, and Penn laughed.
    “Has your mother finally gotten you to commit to one of the ladies?” Bryan asked.
    Everyone in Hohburg Province knew the three of them fought the marriage-noose. Penn preferred all women to a single one. Bryan refused to enter into a loveless marriage–he had lived most his life with parents who acted like acquaintances. Nick had a mother bound and determined to see him married before he reached twenty-five. He had six months to find his own bride or his mother would choose for him.
    Something Nick certainly did not want.
    “No,” Nick replied, shivering at the thought.
    He was loathe to marry any of the local nobility. Too many of them were after him due to his rank. After all, a Duke was a rare prize indeed.
    He glanced at the windows above. A gaggle of girls stood there, watching and whispering. If he dared break away from his friends, he would be besieged in moments. He would rather face an army. Women were much more dangerous than anything he would find on a battlefield.
    Bryan tipped his head to the side. “You have been riding a lot lately. Do you have someone waiting for you?”
    “No, no, I have just been avoiding them.” He gestured to the girls.
    “The least of them has to be more entertaining than the Black Forest,” Penn said, wiping his brow. “I know where I would rather spend my evenings.”
    “Everyone knows where you would rather spend your evenings,” Bryan countered.
    Penn grinned. “Perhaps that is why our dear friend has tucked his latest conquest away. Afraid of a little competition, Nick?” Penn waggled his eyebrows.
    “I am not meeting any female,” Nick replied. Yet he could not help thinking about the tower. When Penn looked at him, he turned away, unable to meet his eye.
    Bryan smirked. “Then it is a woman.”
    “No.” Sighing, he relented. “It was just a voice.”
    Both men raised their brows. “Oh?” Penn asked.
    Nick waved them off. “I found a tower in the Black Forest, one that is not on any of our maps. I have been going back to mark the position.”
    “And?” Penn prodded him in the chest.
    Nick hesitated, not sure he wanted to reveal anything about the angel in the tower, but he knew his friends would never let this go if he did not tell them something. “And the first time I was there I heard a girl singing.”
    “Ah.” Bryan nodded sagely, looking far wiser than he had when he’d been shooting arrows. “And this is the woman you have been sneaking off to see.”
    “No,” Nick said.