Galiana saw the truth of her empty life in the eyes of the unicorn and chose to end it. When Gwenaella rescued her from the cold waters of the Danube, Galiana chose to help Gwenaella in her errand in the hope that she might do something good in the world.
BEFORE THE STORY BEGINS Galiana dimly remembers fleeing the sack of Constantinople with her parents, but that is her last memory of them. They died when their ship was attacked by pirates on the Black Sea. Her treatment at the hands of the rough men despite her prayers and pleas convinced her that if there was a God, he had no love for her. After being abandoned by the pirates in a small river port where the Danube meets the Black Sea, she has pulled a living from the pockets of lonely men.