“Why don’t they have me carry around a price list too? Sheesh.” A pair of stacked boxes catch my eye. “What’s in there?”

“Shoes and stuff.” Cissy holds her gown against her torso and models in the mirror. “This is even nicer than what I wore to the autumn tournament.”

I step over to the boxes and pull out my matching shoes. Inside the box I also find a complex set of winding strips like mummy wrappings. I pick mine up with two fingers. “What the heck are these?”

Cissy glances over her shoulder at me. “Your underwear.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

She sets one hand on her hip. “See? If you’d gone with me to the tailor instead of having your mom send in measurements, you’d know all this stuff. Thrax are nuts about their traditions, and those are traditional thrax undies.”

“I’m not wearing them.” Dropping the strips back into the box, I look at them out of my right eye. “I don’t even know how to get these things on.”

“You’re wearing them and I know exactly how to put them on you.” Cissy glares at me. “They look like typical underwear when they’re on, don’t worry. From what the Ryders told me, thrax are insane about this kinda stuff. If someone saw you in the bathroom wearing anything else, it could turn into a diplomatic horror story.”

My upper lip curls. “I don’t know, Cissy.”

“Oh, stop being a baby and put on your free gorgeous gown. We don’t want to be late.”

We slip on our dresses and I have to admit, I really like mine. The last two gowns I wore were the neon carrot and the marshmallow nightmare. This one’s simple, pretty and actually fits me.

And yes, I wear the traditional thrax undies. Whatever.

I drive Betsy over to thrax central. Cissy complains the entire ride how my beautiful green station wagon has barely-functioning air vents and sketchy radio. I remind her of Betsy’s loyalty and her own lack of car. Once we get to the thrax compound, it takes for-bleeding-ever to find a parking space. The winter tournament’s a much bigger shindig than autumn. I find a spot for Betsy, and then Cissy and I follow the crowd through a winding forest path that opens onto a large field.

Cissy shakes her head. “They must have cut down half a forest.” Compared to the autumn tournament, this field is huge and covered in fancy tents. There must be two dozen total, all in different colors.

I nudge Cissy’s arm. “There are five major houses, so the other tents must be the lesser ones.”

She smiles. “You’ve done some research.”

“Mom gave me some books.”