Jinjur, throwing well-earned shade.

Except he's actually the better swordsman, and the only reason his blade sees little use outside of the extensive practice is because he's the last line of defense, the hidden blade that no one suspects. So... misplaced shade. Not that she's aware of it, of course. I do so love it when a character attempts schadenfreude only to later be shown how deeply in error they were.

I love it...

Vix

Jinjur has proven her worth.

WITH a shock collar active that should have hindered her movements by locking her muscles up. Top tier battle-waifu, that Jinjur...

Indeed.

Shouldn't Fred have expected this? I mean, Future-Fred's warning and all.

Speaking of which, whatever became of FF?

Having angry lions suddenly appear a few feet in front of you during a peppy circus routine can cause terror.

We'll be seeing FF again soon.

(nodnods) Gotcha.👍

Had he been warned he would have been acting differently - and Jinjur wouldn't have been able to borrow his sword.

Or did he know - but had to struggle not to act and let things play out as they did?

Unless the writer hints/tells us we'll never know for sure!

Earlier, he told Songween of the "intelligence" regarding the attack, and said he had doubled the guard.

Having these two assassins appear inside the ring of security, right in his lap so to say, was a shock.

Always a fun bit with my writing; who all knows what when - and does the reader really know what they think they know?

I have the bad habit of wanting to explain everything I have in my head, thinking readers are asking questions when they're really just speculating; and if I do explain, I'll end up spoilering ther story.

So I'm forcing myself to shut up now...a lot of the things readers are wondering about will be dealt with in the coming strips.

Oh, I know it's a fine line between saying too much - or not quite enough. Added fun in my case is I'm rewriting something I started in 2005 and the characters (and readers) are learning things in not quite the same time/order as the first time around.

Nice of her to clean the blade before handing it back to him.

You clean your blade on your prey's body.

Of course, but as much as she dislikes him I was wondering if she would (and whether she'd clean it on her dead foe - or on him ...)

She's using the lioness's scarf.

And doing all that while getting zapped. Jinjur's worth her weight in salt.

"There can be only one!"

As a minor point of critique, I'd have loved to have had a bit more of an explanation as to how Jinjur managed to grab Fred's sword out of his own sheath. Did he *let* her grab it? Seems to me to be the only answer given he's the superior swordsperson, as well as having demonstrably better reflexes by deliberately fighting at a handicap against her without letting her actually kill him in their duel.

If you look at Monday's "A" strip, her hand is turned upside-down to seize the sword. Fred is paralyzed with shock and is not in any position to prevent her taking his sword--in fact, it's a damn good thing she did.

Fred's inaction will be explained later in the story.

Originally there were going to be three lionesses, and Koz was going to be involved, but there just wasn't any room for a third lion. I wanted this encounter to feel like everything happens in a split second. Needing to draw the action out over a week watered that immediacy down; I can't imagine having a third fight going on.

Fred is not the superior swordsman. He says as much to Kathy when he told her he barely escaped his duel with Jinjur with his life. He knows, deep down, that someday he will have to face her again, and that thought scares him, because he doesn't know if he can beat her. One of them will not be walking from the field.

Fred held back in his duel with Jinjur so she would not learn how good a swordsman he really is, and adapt herself to that knowledge. He wanted her to underestimate him, it was his only chance of beating her in a future duel (which given her loathing of him seemed likely.) As it was, that he managed to last as long as he did made her realize that he is a potentially dangerous opponent--most of her duels are over in the blink of an eye.

If Jinjur had not been so cocky, Kathy would never have won their duel. Jinjur is a frighteningly effective warrior, quick-thinking, cagey, and ruthless. Kathy was smart to get her in her employ, because Jinjur would never give Kathy a second chance to humiliate her the way she did in the duel.

Apparently, outside forces have caused a minor fluctuation in the timestream...

I notice Jinjur is returning Fred's sword to him in the traditional manner, hilt first.

Inside of Jinjur is an interesting soul. There is more to her than meets the eye.

What's even more interesting is the fact that she has the point of the sword pointed at her vitals, another bit of tradition. It means that she trusts Fred to accept the sword and not be guilty of subterfuge and run her through.

She's untrustworthy and would probably regard me as less than pondscum, but I still love Jinjur. I miss her longer mane tho.

I'm gonna slightly disagree with her being 'untrustworthy'. While she's highly ambitious and definitely inflated ego, she's also pretty bonded to her word when she gives it. Sure, she schemes and plots and plans... but that's always and mostly because she thinks she's the best suited to rule. The problem is just that. Her ego tells her she must 'rule'... not 'lead'. I know those types of people. We have one now trying to return to the "throne" and to "rule" instead of "lead". I don't distrust Jinjur... or dislike her either. Mostly because I got Murphy to protect the queen. Jinjur acted perfectly and well done. Murphy acted 1st and managed to do something never done before! Put a Lion in outer space!