"Really?" mom said. "Third place again?"
Daisy's head swam. For a moment, it felt like she was somewhere else. Maybe she would rather be anywhere else than here right now. She gripped the dinky little bronze trophy and the daze passed. She was at home in her room at the palace. All she wanted to do was change out of her track uniform and cry.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Daisy said. "I'm training as hard as I can."
Mother flowed across the room, peering into Daisy's giant and mostly empty trophy case.
"You will keep training, of course. And harder than before."
Daisy was not sure that was possible. Her days were packed tight with pushups and weights and squats and jogging and long hours with her nose pressed into books on diplomacy and military tactics. She threw her whole heart and soul into that work every day, which is why her heart shattered when she fell short. If her work was not enough, if she was not enough, what was even the point?
She clenched her teeth. No. This was not about just her. Mom did not play fair.
"Maybe I'd have a chance if I weren't competing against you," Daisy said.
Princess Merlana did not even turn to look at Daisy.
"There will always be someone better. When I am gone, others will take my place. Perhaps they will be even stronger than I, though I regret not living to see that." She smiled at the phantom of her reflection in the glass. "The four kings will tear this kingdom and each other apart to take power. To rule, you must be beyond challenge. You must rise above, and you must win."
Daisy turned her trophy in her hand. It was a small and flimsy hunk of scrap, more insult than a reward. She would have liked it more if they had given her nothing. If she came home empty handed then at least she would not be burdened with this reminder of her failure. Her throat tightened as she thought about how many more of these awful things she would have to carry. The weight was too much. She hurled the trophy across the room. It smashed into a shelf, spilling plush toys and books onto the floor.
Mother turned to look, and Daisy felt the prickle of white-hot shame. The princess knelt to pick up the now dented trophy.
"You will need this," she said. "The frustration you feel seeing this thing is a foothold for you to climb higher. You cannot afford to forget this anger. Hold onto it."
"Why?!" Daisy said, stepping closer. "We both know I can't do this, so why should I bother?! You should've left me to rot in that orphanage and found someone better! Someone who can actually do what you want! Someone perfect!"
The world blinked.
"Perhaps I should have," the Princess said, rising to her full height. "But even I made mistakes and you are mine. If I had been smart, I would've taken in one of the Star Children. But that die was cast already, and I have no choice now but to make do with you."
The sense of déjà vu broke. That was not what mother said. It was supposed to be something else. But that did not make any sense. This was happening, right now, and she said what she said. Daisy pressed a hand against her growing headache.
"No doubt you will struggle against them," mother said. "You will train twice or three times as hard as them just to keep up. But you'll do it, won't you? Because what are you if you don't? A worthless, lonely little orphan good only at causing trouble. A third-place trophy at best that I must carry around and pretend as if it is anything but an insult. And I will do it with a smile because fate is cruel."
Daisy staggered back into the corner as mother's starry cloak filled the room. She felt as if she were shrinking as mother's piercing red eyes bore into her. A half-remembered dream twisted in Daisy's head, a dream where mother had held her in her arms and whispered sweet nothings of belief in her. Maybe that was what Daisy wanted to happen. But this was the truth. This felt true. Every word from mother hit with the razor sting of reality.
"You are an ungrateful child. I fished you out from the trash and gave you luxury and purpose. Can you imagine how many others would die for what you have? And you repay that debt with tantrums and failure. I have done everything possible to make you into something of worth. And yet here we are. I will crumble to dust and watch my kingdom slide into ruin all because of you. But perhaps it is not too late for me to find someone else. Someone better. I will think on that while I watch you play tennis. The tournament this week is another opportunity to disappoint me. I suggest you go practice."
Daisy held herself, head down. She nodded, trying not to spill even a drop of the despair filling her up to the brim. She could not show weakness. She could not be a failure. She shuffled out of the room to the gymnasium, wanting badly to be something. To be anything.