CHAPTER 22
Khizuwi’s comment echoed unpleasantly in Najud’s mind.
He was waiting after his evening meal for the serving of bunnas in his kazr, where everyone had gathered to hear the bikraj’s story. He wasn’t immune to Khizuwi’s charm, any more than the rest of them, but he didn’t like the way he’d encouraged Penrys to try and do the same things the qahulajti had done.
He recognized that some of the churning in his stomach was guilt that he hadn’t sufficiently considered how his colleagues might look upon her. He’d gotten so used to both foreign travel and her unique skills that he’d lost his revulsion for devices, for the physical magic that his teachers would consider forbidden. That was the very definition of a qahulaj—one who did forbidden things.
He didn’t do physical magic himsel
