#suli proverbs

Inej singing Suli lullaby’s to Kaz when he wakes up from a nightmare.

‘Do you know the Suli have no words to say ‘I’m sorry’?’ ‘What do you say when you step on someone’s foot?’ ‘I don’t step on people’s feet.’ ‘You know what I mean.’ ‘We say nothing. We know the slight was not deliberate. We live in tight quarters, traveling together. But when someone does wrong, when we make mistakes, we don’t say we’re sorry. We promise to make amends.’ ‘I will.’ ‘Mati en sheva yelu. This action will have no echo. It means we won’t repeat the same mistakes, that we won’t continue to do harm.’ ‘I’m not going to let you get stabbed again.’ ‘I got stabbed because I let my guard down. You betrayed your crew.’ ‘I didn’t mean—’ ‘It would be better if you had meant to betray us. Jesper, I don’t want an apology, not until you can promise that you won’t keep making the same mistake.’

Suli Wisdom IRL

You have to know where you want to go before you get there.

‘Ten silos,’ Inej said. ‘Nine crossings.’ ‘They’re a lot taller up close,’ said Nina. ‘Are you ready for this?’ ‘Are you ready for this?’ Inej couldn't deny they were intimidating. ‘No matter the height of the mountain, the climbing is the same.’ ‘That's not technically true. You need ropes, picks—’ ‘Don't be a Matthias.’ Nina covered her mouth in horror. ‘I'm going to eat twice as much cake to make up for it. Inej nodded wisely. ‘Sound policy.’

‘I don’t want you beholden to Per Haskell. Or me.’ Another half-truth. His mind had concocted a hundred schemes to bind her to him, to keep her in this city. But she’d spent enough of her life caged by debts and obligations, and it would be better for them both when she was gone. ‘How?’ she said. ‘The money—‘ ‘It’s done.’ He’d liquidated every asset he had, used the last of the savings he’d accrued, every ill-gotten cent. She pressed the envelope to her chest, above her heart. ‘I have no words to thank you for this.’ ‘Surely the Suli have a thousand proverbs for such an occasion?’ ‘Words have not been invented for such an occasion.’ ‘If I end up on the gallows, you can say something nice over the corpse.’