Familiar

Somto. Smiling. But not the good kind. The kind that made people think, 'I might not survive the next five minutes.'

The comedian swallowed.

For the first time in his career, he actually felt nervous on stage.

"…I see I have made a mistake." He nodded solemnly.

Then, he turned to the audience and gave a small, awkward chuckle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this moment to thank you all for coming to my final performance before I'm murdered."

Laughter erupted across the room, tension breaking in an instant.

He didn't dare look in Nnenna's direction again.

From then on, he stuck to safe topics, making jokes about how Gigangum warriors struggled with fancy dining etiquette and how royal speeches were so long that he once grew a beard while waiting for one to end.

The crowd loved it.