Note: Characters of The Patriot (2000) belong to Roland Emmerich and Columbia Pictures and its production companies. Original Characters belong to me.

Prologue

Benjamin Martin and his wife Elizabeth were strolling through a path lined with Spanish moss trees. The moss that hung from the branches swayed in the gentle breeze.

Elizabeth was pregnant with their second child. Their first born Gabriel was at home with a little fever and they didn't want him to overexcite himself.

"I always liked this path," Elizabeth said to her husband and Benjamin nods.

"What name do you think we should name our second child?" he asked, slipping his hand across her back.

"I was thinking Thomas for a boy and Margaret for a girl," she answered and he nods in agreement. Both were good names.

Then, they heard a snap of a twig and they stopped in their tracks. "What was that?" Elizabeth asked and Benjamin takes a fallen branch in his hand as he did not have a weapon with him.

"Stay behind me," he insisted and they stood still for a moment.

It was eerily quiet, the gentle breeze had stopped blowing and there was no whistling of birds. Benjamin was alert as it was his habit, he had to protect his wife and unborn child.

Then, a foot stepped out from behind a tree and then, a body fell in front of them. Elizabeth gasped and she and her husband stared at the body. It was a woman dressed in deer skin, but her head was crusted with blood as was her hands and chest. She was Native American and she appeared to have a bundle in her arms.

Benjamin placed the branch down and kneeled next to the woman. Her deep brown eyes were full of shock and fear, but her face showed exhaustion. Benjamin suspected she was dying from her wounds.

"What happened?" he asked. He wasn't sure if she knew English, but she pointed to her head with her free hand.

"Evil...white men...killed..." she started to say, but she was so weak she couldn't talk very well. Benjamin suspected some colonists attacked a Native American village. The woman must've come from a Cherokee village or any of the Native American tribe villages that resided in South Carolina.

"Awinita," the woman said softly.

"Excuse me?" Benjamin asked and then the woman showed him the bundle. A baby was fast asleep in the comfort of the deer skin blanket.

"Awinita..." the woman replied and she handed her child over to Benjamin. Elizabeth walks over to them and takes the baby into her arms. The two look at the baby and then at the woman, but they see in her eyes that she had passed.

The baby awoke and yawns. She had the same deep brown eyes as her mother and a thick mane of dark hair was growing from her head.

"Awinita," Elizabeth said and the baby coos.

"Benjamin, what should we do? I am already with child, I can't take care of her myself," Elizabeth asks. Benjamin looks at his wife and then at the dead woman.

"We will care for her. We have Abigale and the other women. They'll nurse her and clean her," Benjamin answered.

"But no one will accept her, she's a Native," Elizabeth replied, but Benjamin places a hand around her shoulders.

"We will accept her as one of us," Benjamin said and they stand on their feet. Elizabeth cradled the baby and Benjamin takes the baby's mother into his arms. "I'll bury her in the woods by our home," he added and they turn around and went back to their house.

When they arrived at their homestead, some of their African workers noticed the Martins and were shocked at the site of Benjamin carrying a dead Native woman. "Mister Martin," one of them said, "What happened?"

"Frederick, fetch your sister Sarah," Elizabeth said and Frederick nods and goes to fetch his sister, who had a stillborn last week, but her breasts were still full.

"You two, come with me," Benjamin said to the other two workers, "We'll bury this woman in the woods, but we'll make sure it's well hidden," he adds and the two workers grabbed shovels and followed Benjamin into the woods.

Abigale rushes from the house when she saw her mistress. "Ma'am, whose baby is that?" she asked.

"She's ours now," Elizabeth answered and points to her husband, still carrying the dead woman.

"We believe her village was attacked and she barely escaped with her baby. Her name is Awinita. We will treat her like any other human being," Elizabeth said to Abigale and the woman nods.

Frederick arrives with his sister and just then, the baby begins to cry. Sarah takes one look and stretches her hands towards the baby girl. Elizabeth calmly hands her over to Sarah, who loosens her dress to show her swollen breasts. The baby took the tit in her mouth and began to suckle.

"That's it child, drink it up," Sarah said softly and the baby relaxes in Sarah's arms.

When Awinita was finished, Sarah gently pats her back and the baby gives a slight belch and sighs.

It was sunset when Benjamin and the two African workers emerged from the woods, the task completed. Elizabeth takes a wet cloth and wipes off the dirt that caked her husband's hands.

"Did she take Sarah?' Benjamin asked and Elizabeth nods.

"Awinita, that is a beautiful name," she said and he nods in agreement.

"I heard that it means fawn," Benjamin replied.

"It suits her," Elizabeth said and she takes the baby girl in her arms. She gently rubs her back and the baby falls asleep. They then went into their house and Elizabeth places Awinita in the baby cradle.


From the author: Hello my fellow readers! Yes, I am back with a Mistress story, this time with 'The Patriot' as I had watched it in time for the 4th of July. I am eager to work on this as much as I can as I did with the Hunger Games. We will see how far I'll go with this. Please leave reviews.