The girls wandered over by the fire. After such a sweltering day, Kami couldn't believe how cool it was already. She was grateful for the warmth as she held her hands out. Liam joined her.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"My legs are stiff, but no biggie," she answered.

Before she could say another word she was called away again, this time by Yasmin to help dish up the stew. Kami handed out the bowls, and by the time she returned with her food, Liam, Chris and Samuel were deep in conversation. She listened.

"How lame is that?" Liam said. "He basically conquered the known world and then died in his tent of a fever. Really? He had survived so many battles only to succumb to a lousy fever? He was so strong."

"Maybe he was poisoned," Chris said.

"A poison that takes twelve days to take effect?" Liam asked skeptically.

"It could have been administered gradually," Samuel argued.

"Who are we talking about?" Kami asked.

"Alexander the Great," Samuel said. "Remember, hellebore was used as medicine at the time, but it was also a poison. Maybe he overdosed."

"Maybe," Liam said. "I still think it's lame."

"No arguments there," Samuel said. "When it's my time to go, I hope to go out with my feet in my boots, guns blazing. I want a glorious death, you know what I mean? No choking on a chicken bone or something."

"How about a cherry Jolly Rancher?" Chris said, sending everyone into waves of laughter. Samuel whacked the back of the kid's head playfully.

"I agree with Samuel," Yasmin said. "Better to die gloriously than to live without rights."

Kami saw an emotion flit across Yasmin's face that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"What was it like?" she asked. "Being on the streets during the revolution I mean."

Yasmin ate a spoonful of stew thoughtfully, then looked down at her bowl.

"It's not usually too bad. You just have to be careful. Wear the right clothes, you know, layers, no buttons, drawstring pants double-knotted," she said.

"Why?" Kami asked, utterly perplexed.

"And now we see the ugly side to the glorious revolution," Samuel said quietly.

"Most of the time it prevents harassers from exposing you, but not always though. I was sitting with my friends in Tahrir Square. The military police raided the square and took my friends and me into custody. They beat us and gave us electric shocks, but I was lucky because they let me go. My friends were kept there. They were stripped down and forced to undergo a virginity test in front of the soldiers and officers. They laughed at my friends and humiliated them. They even taped it with video cameras!"

"They are allowed to do that?" Kami said in complete shock.

"They have been getting away with this kind of disgusting behavior forever," Yasmin said. "Of all the girls they did this to, only one came forward to fight it—my friend, Samira Ibrahim. She reported it, challenged the military institution and sued her abusers. People were shocked she sued. You can't do that, that's what people were saying. They tried to say it was her fault. She's a bad girl. Any 'decent' well-behaving woman would not leave her home to protest or to take part in a sit-in. She shouldn't have been there in the first place, so she had it coming. It was infuriating. She was threatened, and she even lost her job." 

"What was the military's reaction?" Kami asked.

"Oh, they claimed they were doing it to prove the soldiers didn't rape them. Oh, we will beat you, strip you, expose you, and laugh at you, but thank God you weren't raped! As if you weren't all but raped in that degradation. You want to know the real reason they do this? It is to intimidate us, to shut our mouths and to keep us quiet, small, and afraid as a little mouse in our homes that doesn't dare squeak so they can keep things the way they are. They want to instill fear in us, all of us. What good father would let his wife or daughter be involved in something so risky? What good girl would stir up trouble? They blame their faults on us. Enough! It's all manipulation and controlling tactics. Samira proved it wouldn't work anymore. They are the ones that ought to be ashamed, not us. We are not the weak link they think we are. You can see it in Samira's face. You can see it in mine. Do we look weak? Do we look afraid? Do we not have the same obligation as our brothers to fight for our rights?"

"What do Gedo and Neina think about it?" Kami asked.

"They don't know, and I don't want them to. Gedo already hates that I was involved with the revolution. This would just aggravate it," Yasmin said, glancing discreetly in the direction where Gedo was keeping watch. "It's not like I wish it had happened to me, but I wish I hadn't been singled out to be spared. The only reason they didn't perform a so-called virginity test on me was because Gedo is too famous, and it would draw too much attention. Samira should not have had to fight the battle alone. I would have stood by her and fought with her. I feel guilty that she had to go through it and not me. The worst part is even after everything she went through to stop it, the police have starting doing the tests again."

"I remember reading about her on your blog," Liam said. "In your way, you did fight it. You informed people."

"Yes, but it's not the same," Yasmin said. "People need to pull their heads out of the sand. I am not ashamed to fight for the rights of all my people. I know of those who have been broken by men who have exercised unrighteous authority over them. I refuse to be intimidated by men. They may strip us, and beat us, and tell us we brought it on ourselves; but they will only succeed in intimidating me if I hand them my power, and that is something I will never do. My father says something only has power over you if you think it does. You can be proud of your country and culture and, at the same time, recognize that there is something that's wrong that needs to be changed. That's what Samira did, and now other girls will not have to endure what she did. Was she wrong to stand her ground? If not her, who?"

The group finished their food quietly. Samuel shoveled down the rest of his soup, then he and Chris replaced Haji and Gedo on watch. As the night waned and the fire dwindled, Haji retired to his tent, leaving only the two girls, Liam, and Gedo. Kami was cognizant of Gedo's frequent gaze on her. Kami stretched and told them she was heading to bed. She couldn't miss Gedo's relieved expression.

She unzipped the tent, then zipped it back up without entering and peered around the corner.

True to her word, Yasmin stepped carefully around the fire and loudly announced she and Gedo would take the next watch. Kami watched as Yasmin tucked her hand into his elbow and led him away.

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The dedication for this chapter goes to a lovely and hilarious Wattpadre @BrittanieCharmintine. Her fabulous book "Mermaids and the Vampires Who Love Them" has been rocking the charts! I've thoroughly enjoyed Waverly's story so far. You can check out the story by clicking on the dedication link above.