Jade City Quotes
"Summer had barely begun and already the city of Janloon was like a spent lover—sticky and fragrant."
"Bero thought. Why not, indeed. He might only be a dockworker’s bastard who would never have a martial education at Wie Lon Temple School or Kaul Dushuron Academy, but at least he was Kekonese all the way through. He had guts and nerve; he had what it took to be somebody. Jade made you somebody."
"Shon Ju says there’s been trouble in the Armpit," said Maik Kehn, leaning in to speak discreetly under the blanket of background noise. "A bunch of kids shaking down businesses."
"Another strange thing," said Kehn when the waiter had left. "No one’s seen or heard from Three-Fingered Gee."
"Please, Kaul-jen, I couldn’t be more embarrassed that your evening was disturbed. I don’t know how these two worthless little thieving shits wormed their way into my kitchen."
"Kaul Sen swiveled around in his chair fast. His body rippled like a serpent’s spine as he slammed both hands into Lan’s chest."
"Kaul Seningtun was a national hero, one of the leaders of the fierce Green Bone–led uprising that had, more than a quarter of a century ago, finally ended the Empire of Shotar’s control over the island of Kekon."
"You can’t blame them," she said. "What could a son of the great Kaul family want with a stone-eye—especially from a disgraced family like mine—besides an easy lay?"
"If you’re a worthy Pillar, then prove it." The elder Kaul’s eyes were like obsidian, and his face was a dry, harsh desert."
"She was confused by the combination of emotions this aroused in her: a poignant, bittersweet mixture of elation and defeat."
"Through sheer workaholic grit, she’d graduated in the top third of her class despite the fact that she’d been studying in her second language."
"When she walked into the room, the men around the table—they were always men—assumed she was Tuni, or Shotarian, and the first glimmer of prejudice would come into their eyes."
"This wasn’t Kekon, where the name Kaul was golden; the right word from grandfather wouldn’t get her anything."
"Lan was nine years older than she; they had never been playmates, but he had always been kind to her."
"Kaul Sen’s piercing gaze took in her bright, foreign attire, and the corners of his eyes tightened in a mess of wrinkles."
"Gods," he muttered, "the last couple of years have been as unkind to you as they have been to me."
"Jade is our inheritance; our blood isn’t meant to mix with others."
"Shae hadn’t been reliable about responding to Lan’s letters when she’d been in Espenia; she could hardly expect him to confide in her now."
"Kaul Sen held out his gnarled hands, and she took them as she stood."
"The family hasn’t been right without you," Kaul Sen said.
"I haven’t touched a thing in your old room," he said. "I knew you’d come home once you’d gone through this phase. It’s still yours."
"You want to come, if you don’t have other plans?"
"My bricks were thinner," Anden replied politely.
"You’re Anden Emery," said Gont, his use of the foreign naming convention making Anden wince inwardly.
"You’re a special case. There’s no shame in that, Andy."
"You’re as much my brother as Lan is. You know that."
"Soon you’ll have to be careful about who you’re with, who might be eying you for your green."
"You’re going to give more foreigners the ability to wear jade? Isn’t that exactly what we don’t want?"
"You have our offer. You know what to do next. I’ll wait for an answer, but not for long."
"You’re never any trouble, Anden," Lan told him. "I think the Mountain has been planning to give us a shake like this. You just happened to give Gont a way to do it."
"I’ll discuss it with the Horn and the Weather Man," Lan said. "That’s not something you need to worry about. You just focus on school and preparing for Trials this year."
"I think so. I’ll try my best," Anden promised, and Lan felt a surge of pride.
"The Mountain has a plan to produce and sell SN1 in Ygutan. It could make them a lot of money, and Ayt proposes we join in with them on it."
"What does Ayt take us for?" His expression was angry, but his voice was more perplexed than anything else.
"Sometimes, the old ways are not without wisdom."
"Calm down. Anden’s not a pawn, and we’re not sending him anywhere he doesn’t want to go."
"I’m going to decline any alliance or partnership with the Mountain when it comes to the production of shine."
"Jade is our national resource; it should never be controlled by any one person or group. There needs to be a balance of power."
"I’m not going to give your family any additional reasons to look down on me. We’ll live together when we’re married, and not before."
"You find me Tem and tell me about his activities and connections, but what happens after that is between Green Bones."
"Forgive me for the reminder," she said coolly.
"I have to ask Lan properly, and then we’ll plan the wedding, and it’ll take months," he’d argued.
"We’ll take care of it," said Hilo. "It won’t happen again."
"That’s ‘Yes, Kaul-jen,’ and kneel when you pledge your word to the Horn, you dog."
"You can stay as long as you like," she cooed.
"The Mountain did it," he gasped. "They whispered Hilo’s name."
"Anyone who gives me the whereabouts of the two men who fled here tonight is a friend of No Peak and a friend of mine. Anyone who helps them or hides them is an enemy of mine and my clan."
"I may look Espenian on the outside, Gont-jen, but that doesn’t mean I can be bribed like a dog."
"Should I ever be disloyal to my brother, may I die by the blade. Should I ever fail to come to the aid of my brother, may I die by the blade. Should I ever seek personal gain at the expense of my brother, may I die by the blade."
"We’re going to storm the fucking place and drag Gont Asch out by his tiny balls."
"You wrong any one of us, you wrong us all. You seek to war with us, and we will return it a hundredfold."
"You don’t have to talk down to me like that."
"You know I don’t believe the bullshit about jade bringing people closer to the gods."
"You can do anything else you want, but not this."
"We are being threatened by another clan and have to be prepared for difficult times."
"What I can promise is that we will defend ourselves."
"I need someone I trust to do this, Doru-jen."
"We understand perfectly where you’re coming from, Kaul-jen."
"I'm not worried about your rank, Anden."
"I would never suggest you’re a coward, Anden."
"It’s my place to deal with this Anden, not yours."
"Green Bones were thought of as something exotic and magical, but ultimately archaic and savage."
"You can’t be an ordinary person, Shae. Not in this city. Not in this country."
"I don’t promise you a godsdamned thing."
"The penitents believed it would bring them, and humanity, closer to godliness."
"Being a Green Bone is only one way of life. You don’t have to choose it."
"Sit straight and be quiet. Everyone is watching you."
"The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master."
"You always knew I would be Pillar someday. You understood it would be this way."
"I should make her stay. In exchange for this foreigner’s life, she has to stay and give me an heir, for the clan."
"Heaven help me, Shae. I’m going to kill them all."
"Their lives and livelihoods are for the taking, and jade goes to the victor."
"The Mountain wants Kaul dead, don’t it?"
"Goodbye jade, goodbye shine, goodbye eating solid food."
"The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master. On my honor, my life, and my jade."
"I’m not Du or Lan, but I’m still a Kaul. I’ll make things right, I promise."
"He went against the clan. A Weather Man doesn’t go against the Pillar. He has to die; there’s nothing to be done about it."
"You disgust me, Uncle Doru. I don’t need to tell you why. In my opinion, you’ve lived too long already, protected by Grandda’s friendship no matter what you did."
"His mind is going. The doctor says he needs familiar people and routines."
"I want what’s best for Grandda. That’s even more important than clan justice. Do you agree, Uncle?"
"You may hate me for my weaknesses, as I know you do, but I could never wish any ill on you, Shae-se, and I never will."
"I’m the Weather Man. My name is Kaul Shaelinsan, and if there’s anything further you wish to say, say it to me."
"You give a man something to live up to, you tell him he can be more than he is now, more than other people think he’ll ever be, and he’ll try his godsdamned best to make it true."
"We can’t be going against each other, Shae, not anymore. I asked for your oath and you gave it, and that means you don’t show me disrespect, and you don’t do things like that."
"Racehorses, though, they run because they look at the horse on their left, they look at the one on their right, and they think, No way am I second to these fuckers."
"It wasn’t enough to be a Green Bone, even to be First of Class—he had to be a Kaul."
"Wartime is good for carrion eaters, obviously."
"They had been small but deeply personal victories."
"She couldn’t move into the Weather Man’s house; Doru was still imprisoned inside when he wasn’t spending time under guard with her grandfather."
"I couldn’t sleep and wondered if you’d be kind enough to join me for a cup of tea."
"Now that it’s presentable, he doesn’t even come over because he says it’s Kehn’s house and he doesn’t want to disrespect my older brother."
"I take it that’s not what you want to do."
"He’s honest and fierce, and his men revere him. If heart alone could win the war, we’d already be victorious."
"I hope none of your political opponents are trying to take your head off with a moon blade."
"I’m deeply saddened that the rift between the two great clans of this country has led to bloodshed."
"I’ve offered you an opportunity that you’ve spurned. Don’t worry, you naive and idealistic girl, I won’t kill you now."
"The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master. I have been chosen and trained to carry the gift of the gods for the good and protection of the people, and against all enemies of the clan, no matter their strength or numbers."
"If I ever be disloyal to my brother, may I die by the blade. If I ever fail to come to the aid of my brother, may I die by the blade. If I ever seek personal gain at the expense of my brother, may I die by the blade."
"Under the eyes of all the gods in Heaven, I pledge this. On my honor, my life, and my jade."
"The family was hard on you at the time, but now I’m glad for your Espenian connections. I don’t know how you pulled it off, but however you did, I’m grateful."