The Convent of Saints Cosma and Damiano was an imposing building on the island of Giudecca just a boat ride across its namesake canal. Erected a century and a half earlier, the compound was a favorite with patricians for stowing-away their troublesome daughters—in exchange for a suitable dowry, of course.
Those receiving an education while they (and their chastity) waited to be wed were the lucky ones. Girls deemed un-marriable for one reason or another would never leave. High walls, barred windows, and vigilant nuns limited access in and out, but Giovanna hoped she'd not only find Ottavia, but somehow also free her.
"This is useless," Dilara mumbled as Giovanna knocked on the convent's door. It seemed the Turkish girl had expected more from the excursion than walking up to the front entrance and simply asking for their friend's return.
"Ssh," Giovanna hushed as the cover on the door viewer slid aside.
"What do you want?" The gruff inquiry came from wrinkled eyes exuding unbridled suspicion.
Giovanna pulled herself straight and smiled. "Good morning, sister. I am the daughter of Agostino Rienzo, a plague doctor who—"
The panel slammed shut before she had a chance to finish.
"We have no need for your potions and tonics," yelled the nun from behind the door. "Now go with God, and don't bother us again."
Giovanna's eyes widened and she threw herself against the door, pounding on the wood with her open palm. "No, please! You misunderstand. I am not here to peddle cures. You have my friend inside. Ottavia Michiel is her name, and I must speak with her at once."
The plea was met with silence.
Dilara gently tugged on Giovanna's arm. "Come. We must figure out a better way. Perhaps if you appealed to her father—"
"No," Giovanna said, shaking off her grip, all the while scouring the facade with her gaze. Men put women into these places, not the other way around. "If I just knew which part of the building they were keeping her in . . .."
"The courtyard side," called out an unfamiliar voice.
Giovanna looked around for its source. "Who said that?"
"If it's the new girl you seek, her chambers are on the second floor looking into the courtyard," came the response from above.
Looking beyond the shadows, Giovanna saw a young woman in a Benedictine habit. "Thank you kindly," she yelled up with a smile before hiking up her skirt to her ankles.
"What do you think you're doing?" Dilara asked as she made her way to the garden wall.
Finding an imperfection in the masonry that her foot could fit into, Giovanna pulled herself up. "If Ottavia can't come to us, then I'll go to her."
Dilara laughed nervously. "You're mad. You'll break your neck."
Giovanna placed her hand higher and hoisted herself on top of the wall. Sitting side-saddle, she looked back on Dilara with a mischievous grin. "It's nice of you to worry, but it's wholly unnecessary," she said. Hopping to her feet, she gracefully walked along the narrow wall, gingerly placing one foot in front of the other. "I've done this many times."
"You have experience in this sort of thing?" Dilara asked, putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot like an impatient mother hen.
Giovanna reached the convent's wall and tested the narrow ledge. Her toes fit just enough to work, and by grabbing protruding bricks making up the second level's window sills, she could probably maneuver to Ottavia's room without falling. Probably.
"I've never climbed here," she admitted, taking the first precarious step while recalling all the nights she'd climbed into Ottavia's window. "But I've gotten into other places I shouldn't have."
Dilara didn't press any further, and Giovanna was glad for it. Between keeping her legs from shaking, her hands from slipping, and her heart from pounding, she couldn't spare any distractions. Although the first two windows were locked and proved to be fruitless, there was hope behind the third.
"Ottavia Michiel. Do you know where I can find her?" Giovanna asked as she peeked into the small room, past the iron bars blocking the window.
The woman in simple, lay clothing jumped up from kneeling in prayer and rushed over. "However did you get there? Oh, my! Please do be careful—"
"Please. Do you know Ottavia?" Giovanna prompted, knowing she didn't have much energy left for idle chatter.
The woman's face lit up. "Oh, yes. She's in the room next to mine, just a bit farther."
"Thank you," Giovanna whispered as her feet began to move again.
The adjacent window was closed, but after a few gentle taps, the latches creaked and the panes opened.
"Giovanna!" Ottavia exclaimed as she recognized her friend. "Oh, how happy I am to see you."
"And I you, but I don't have much time," Giovanna said as she steadied her grip on the bars. "You know that I won't abandon you, do you not? I will find a way to get you out of here and away from Nicco Grimani, that I promise."
Ottavia touched Giovanna's fingers as tears flooded her eyes.
"And you know that I had accepted my fate to wed a Grimani, but that was before I was forced into this awful place. If Nicco is willing to do this to his bride before the wedding, imagine what he's capable of after. Why, he'll likely make me have children no matter how much I protest," she said.
Giovanna's heart hurt for her friend for she knew that Ottavia didn't just object to the act leading to the creation of a new life. Her fear was rooted in something much more tragic. Because the poor girl's own mother died in childbirth, Ottavia had sworn she would never meet the same end.
"Don't think of any of that," Giovanna said in an attempt at consolation. "Rather think of what—of who—is out here waiting for you." She gestured with her head past the garden wall in hopes that Ottavia would know who she meant.
"Did she bring you here?" Ottavia asked with renewed enthusiasm while craning her neck.
"Yes, and she is willing to take you wherever your heart desires. But until then, you must keep strong—"
"What in the world is going on here?" interrupted an angry voice from further inside the room.
Ottavia turned and when she looked back, her expression was one of terror. "You must go now. Hurry, please!"
Giovanna didn't need to be told twice. They'd been caught, and it was time for her to leave before future hopes of rescuing Ottavia dissipated. But as she scrambled to return from whence she'd come, her prior exertion—and sweaty palms—caught up with her. There was no chance for Giovanna to hold on to or grab something to steady herself. As soon as her fingers slipped off the brick, her body tumbled backward. She immediately accepted her fate and readied herself for a painful crash to the ground, shutting her eyes and clenching her jaws in preparation.
But it never came. Instead, she landed in outstretched arms that shouldn't have been there.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking into Matteo's smug face as soon as she realized what had happened.
He scoffed. "I thought I asked you to wait for me." Placing her on her feet, he added, "You're welcome, by the way."
Giovanna smoothed out her skirts in an attempt to hide her shaky hands. Matteo had just saved her from a serious injury—or even death—throwing the favors between them out of balance again. And while one of those things made her extremely grateful, the other filled her with dread.
"Guards! Guards! Apprehend the interlopers at once!" screamed the nun from above.
Matteo grabbed Giovanna's hand. "Come."
Pulling her along, he led her out of the courtyard through an out-of-the-way gate hidden behind a scraggly olive tree.
"Dilara!" Giovanna yelled for the other girl to follow as they ran away from the convent to avoid capture by the authorities. Although Matteo could surely talk his way out of any consequences for the two of them, he might not have been so persuasive in getting a foreigner reprieve.
The trio didn't slow until they'd rounded a corner. "You have a lot of explaining to do," Matteo said between ragged breaths as he eyed the Turkish girl. "But not here. I know of a place. After the morning we've had, I could use a drink, as well."