The idea made him laugh and when he threw his head back, Philip got dizzy and had to grab the saddle.
Yes, he’d had too much to drink and would likely suffer for it tomorrow. But, since when did ale make him dizzy?
Philip took a deep breath and admired the star-filled sky. He couldn’t remember when the stars had been so vibrant with hardly any moon. Or were they bright because of the moon, or lack of moon?
Ah, the new moon had been last night and if he recalled correctly, it was the new moon that had no light, but a full moon that had all of it.
Ah yes, he was going to go through changes before the next full moon, whenever that was.
Would that change include Lady Antonia? He hoped that it did, but if he did not start courting her, she would leave, and he would not get another chance.
Except, he still didn’t understand why she ran from him and was never at home. Just because they had a pleasant conversation today did not mean she wanted him to pursue her.
And he still didn’t fully understand her.
Except, he still wanted her without explanation. Had any other woman treated him as she had in London, he would have dismissed and forgotten her, but Lady Antonia had continued to plague him since last spring, even when she was not around.
A conundrum.
Yes, he was smitten. He’d been smitten since last spring.
He squinted at the stars and moon and tried to remember the different stages of the moon, but they weren’t coming to him.
Philip then blinked and glanced around, holding tight to the saddle so that he didn’t topple off because he was unsteady.
He did not feel drunk. At least, he wasn’t so deep in his cups that he couldn’t function, but he experienced an odd dizziness and a ringing in his ears that had never happened before.
His horse, normally calm and docile, sidestepped and whinnied. Philip looked down to see if there was something in the road, but suddenly his hand cramped and he almost dropped the reins. Philip quickly grabbed them with his other hand then nearly doubled over with the intense pain when his hand cramped again. Philip made a fist, then straightened out his fingers hoping to relieve the pain, but it didn’t do any good.
When he lifted his hand to see what was wrong, he nearly yelled.
What had happened to his hand?
Not only was it painful, but it was covered in hair and his fingernails had grown out.
Panic settled into his chest, and he shook his hand hoping that maybe that would make it go away, but it didn’t.
What was wrong with him?
What was in that ale?
His horse continued to dance to the side, shaking its head, clearly disturbed, but so was Philip.
“Amcaster!” he called as he tried not to panic. “Cassian!”
The two looked over their shoulders and then turned their horses to come back.
“My hand.” Philip held it up when they finally reached his side. “Look at it.”
“What is wrong with it?” Amcaster asked slowly.
“Can you not see that it has changed?”
“It looks like it always has,” Cassian said. “Did you drink anything other than ale?”
How could they not see that his hand was hairy?
Philip looked at it again, but his hand was back to normal, and the pain was gone.
