Once upon a time there was a princess who had been turned out of her kingdom by a usurper.

But she had been rescued by loyal friends and hidden from the usurper, and she comforted herself by remembering all the stories she had read where people went through trials just like this, only to come through them and live happily ever after.  And as she grew of age in disguise (under the false name "Lila," which she'd started to think of as her own), she realized that it wasn't just her; all the world was a story.  Or, it was many stories interwoven, if she could only pick them apart and notice.

And in time - after the usurper's misrule had become clear - the castellan of a nearby castle let them in, and Lila came to be proclaimed as Queen.  But some of the knights there were still secretly loyal to the usurper, and they struck by surprise to capture her.

She tried to plead with them, but they wouldn't hear; she tried to fight (though untrained), and that made it quicker than either of them had intended.

As she felt the sword sink into her, she thought that she'd at least had a noble death.  And this probably wouldn't be the end of the story; she did have a second cousin who could be proclaimed in her stead...