Anya knew something was amiss when she woke a few days later with platinum blonde hair, far lighter than her usual golden locks. She wasn't sure the cause, and didn't want to waste magic on using a charm to figure it out, so she acted as though nothing was wrong. When Sassy showed concern, Anya merely lied that this was a disguise to help their escape.
When Anya grew a horse's tail in the same color a few days after, she knew there was nefarious magic afoot. She suspected she had been cursed, possibly by that horse witch. However, she was still low on magic. Too low to confirm her suspicions, let alone stop or reverse whatever was happening to her. Anya hid the tail under her skirt and directed Sassy to the closest town with a post office.
By the time they arrived, Anya's ears had become those of a horse, complete with soft, golden fur. Apparently, she was becoming a palomino. Anya tied Sassy to a post outside the post office and went inside, where she wrote three identical letters. They contained everything she knew about her situation and location, as well as advice to use charms to locate her magic specifically if she and Sassy could not be found. After all, she didn't know how long it would take for her to fully transform. She might be unable to communicate by the time help arrived.
She addressed a letter each to her three older brothers: Yevgeny, Dmitri, and Mikhail. Yevgeny and Dmitri had been guards at the Royal Palace. After the coup, Yevgeny stayed behind to be a spy for the Royalists. Dmitri and his wife fled, seeking shelter with a dear friend who ran a riding school. Mikhail was at the family home in Wind's Grove, where he oversaw care of the Copperstone horses and cattle. At least one of them would be able to find and help her, should she not reach home in time.
Using the last of her magic, Anya cast a charm on the letters so they would find her brothers and could only be read by them. She then paid the gold to mail them and left. As she rode Sassy out of town, Anya began to debate telling the former Prince of her condition. She had hidden her new features from Sassy thus far, but couldn't keep it up for long...