Author's pov

Lost in thought, Baldev Singh was walking toward his home. The dark, silent night seemed like a mirror reflecting the turmoil inside his mind.

Henry’s words echoed again and again in his head, 'I want to marry Heer.'

An Englishman, a foreigner, an officer of the British… asking for Heer’s hand? The very thought was strange enough for a father.

Baldev’s steps had barely begun to move properly toward home when suddenly a young man collided with him. His hurried pace and heavy breathing told a story of their own.

“Watch where you are going, boy!” Baldev Singh’s deep voice echoed in the quiet lane. But the young man rushed past him without saying a word.

A moment later a few soldiers came running behind him. “Have you seen a boy running this way? He is a rebel!”

Without hesitation, Baldev Singh pointed in the opposite direction. “He went that way.”

The soldiers ran off in that direction, but Baldev’s heart grew even more restless. He had recognized the boy. He was from his own neighborhood, the only support of an old mother. If the police reached him, if he were caught, what would happen then?

Baldev had saved another revolutionary today. But how many times could this continue? For how long? One by one, the young men of Punjab were being consumed by this fire. Where would this fire finally stop?

He might be loyal to the government, but even he worried about his land and its children.

After all, just like him, every old parent loves their children, and he could not take away that support from someone’s life. Not even in the name of his loyalty.

By the time Baldev reached home, his heart had grown even heavier. At every turn, new rebels were being born. It had become difficult to know who was truly loyal and who was secretly hiding dangerous truths.

“What if by mistake I marry Heer to someone who is secretly connected with the revolutionaries? Her life would be ruined,” he thought.

A voice within him whispered, “Then marry her to Henry.”

His mind immediately responded, “No. What will people say? What will society, our community, and our relatives say?”

Could Heer become the wife of a British officer? Would her family, her community, ever accept such a thing? And what if Heer herself refused?

Lost in these thoughts, Baldev Singh entered the courtyard. He saw Heer and Sahib running after each other. Heer was insisting on feeding her younger brother, while Sahib, with a mischievous smile, was trying to escape her.

A faint smile appeared on Baldev’s face.

The innocence of childhood was still present on Heer’s face. Had she truly grown old enough for marriage? Was it really so easy to make such a decision?

Baldev Singh took a deep breath and quietly walked toward his room without saying anything. Sleep was not going to come to him tonight.

All night long he struggled with just one question, “What is truly right for my Heer?”

The entire night passed in this conflict. Morning arrived, but in Baldev’s heart the dark, heavy night still remained.

Another week passed in the same confusion and worry. Now the concern on Baldev’s face had become clear even to his wife, Sukhjeet. Finally one day she asked him,

“Is something wrong? You have seemed very troubled these past few days.”

Baldev took a deep breath and told Sukhjeet everything, how Henry had asked for Heer’s hand in marriage.

“Now I cannot understand what I should do,” Baldev said, rubbing his forehead with fingers heavy with worry.

“What is there to think about, Sardar Sahib? There is no match in this at all. How can we give our daughter to an enemy…”

“Oh be quiet, foolish woman,” Baldev immediately interrupted her. “Even walls have ears, and the government’s ears are the sharpest of all. Our livelihood comes from them. Do not forget that.”

“But that does not mean we should give them our daughter,” Sukhjeet said anxiously. “What will people say? That we married our daughter outside our community?”

“And within the community, who is there whose hands I can place my daughter’s hand into?” Baldev’s voice grew heavy. “No one knows who is secretly working with whom against the government. Among the very people around us, we do not even know who might be a rebel. How can I give my daughter’s hand to someone and later discover that he had already devoted his life to this soil? My daughter’s life would be ruined.”

His helplessness reached Sukhjeet’s heart. She fell silent, but new questions began rising in her mind as well.

As a mother, she wished only for her daughter’s happiness. But this decision was not easy. Henry was a British man. An enemy. But was he truly?

Baldev Singh noticed the strange confusion in Sukhjeet’s eyes. She was thinking the same thing that his own heart kept whispering again and again.

“What if Heer is married to someone else, and one day he turns out to be a revolutionary?”

A month passed. Baldev Singh did not mention Henry’s proposal to anyone. But every time he saw Heer, his heart grew more restless.

A new world.

A foreign land.

A British husband.

Would she truly be happy?

For an entire month Baldev Singh spoke to no one about Henry. But inside him the same thought kept eating away at his mind every single day. In his imagination Heer’s fate stretched before his eyes, a strange world, an unfamiliar land, a foreign husband.

Yet the truth remained the same.

All he truly wanted was Heer’s safety and a secure life.

That night, exhausted by the weight of his thoughts, Baldev Singh finally opened his heart before Sukhjeet.

“Sukhjeet, I think we should not refuse this proposal.”

Sukhjeet, who had already been reading the worry on his face for days, looked stunned. “Are you saying we will marry Heer to an Englishman?”

“Yes,” Baldev Singh replied slowly but firmly. “Not because he is English, but because he likes Heer. He will keep her happy. What more could a father wish for? And most importantly, I will not have to live in fear that at some point in Heer’s life she may become connected to some revolutionary.”

Sukhjeet quietly looked at her husband. Was this truly the same man whose pride and honor had always meant everything to him? Today he had agreed to place his daughter’s hand in that of a foreigner, only so that Heer’s life might remain safe.

But neither of them knew that the very revolutionaries they wished to protect Heer from, Heer herself was already a part of them.

“But what will people say, Sardar Sahib?” Sukhjeet asked softly.

Baldev Singh took a deep breath and looked into Sukhjeet’s eyes, which were filled with fear. “Sukhjeet Kaur, Heer is my daughter, not the world’s. I want my daughter’s life to be safe. I do not need the world’s approval.”

Baldev Singh and Sukhjeet had convinced themselves that the greatest question in their life was Heer's safety.

Now they had no fear left, neither of the world, nor of their community, nor even of the thought that someday Heer’s husband might secretly be connected to some revolutionary group.

But there was one thing they had never imagined, not even in their wildest dreams.

What Heer herself truly was.

The fire they were trying to keep Heer away from, her soul had already been burning in that very fire.

The roots they were trying to protect her from were already flowing through her veins along with her blood.

The revolutionaries they wished to keep Heer away from, Heer had already become a part of them.

Only Heer knew the truth of this. No one else did.

Baldev sent a message to Henry through Iqbal, asking him to come to his house, and he told Sukhjeet to speak with Heer.

Baldev had just reached home after sending the message through Iqbal when he saw Heer standing at the doorway with Nooran.

“My princess daughter, where are you going?”

Smiling, Heer adjusted the dupatta on her head and replied, “To the library.”

Heer was slightly surprised to see her father at home at this hour because he rarely returned during the day, and today he had even stopped her from going to the library.

“Do not go today.”

Heer’s heart suddenly began to beat faster. Until today her father had never stopped her from stepping out of the house.

She asked him in a voice filled with surprise, “But why?”

Sukhjeet spoke sternly, because she did not like the way Heer was questioning her father. “Do not ask so many questions. Come inside.”

For a moment Heer looked toward her father, hoping he might say something.

But Baldev Singh did not stop Sukhjeet. Instead he turned to Nooran and said, “Daughter, you go alone today, and whichever book my princess wishes to read, bring it for her.”

Nooran looked at Heer with hesitation. There was uneasiness in Heer’s eyes as well, but she slowly nodded and left.

A strange fear began to rise in Heer’s heart.

In a quiet voice she said, “I wanted to go to the library…”

Sukhjeet interrupted her immediately. “Heer, your childhood days are over now. Learn to take care of the house.”

For a moment Heer felt as if her breath had stopped after hearing her mother’s words. Yet she still looked toward her father with a faint hope and asked in a trembling voice, “What do you mean?”

Her heart was growing restless. She understood the meaning well enough, but there was still a small hope within her that perhaps she was wrong.

But when Baldev smiled and gently stroked Heer’s head and said, “I have found a prince for my Heer,” it felt as if her entire world had turned upside down.

Baldev’s words echoed in Heer’s ears like an explosion.

He had said his part and walked away, but for Heer it felt as if time itself had frozen in that moment.

Marriage?

No.

She could not even imagine such a thing in her dreams. Marriage at a time like this? At a time when she had a duty to fulfill toward her Motherland.

She had to break the chains of this slavery.

“Bebe ji (mother), I do not want to get married!” Heer said in a heavy voice. There were tears in her eyes that Sukhjeet could not fail to notice.

Sukhjeet asked in surprise, “Why not?”

“I just do not want to!”

Her mother gently caressed her face and said, “Child, everyone has to get married one day.”

Heer’s eyes filled with tears, and inside her heart a storm had begun to rise. She slowly shook her head.

Seeing Heer’s tears, Sukhjeet’s voice became slightly stern. “Heer, is there something you are hiding from me?”

“No…”

“Then what is the reason for refusing? Or are you dragging your father’s honor into the dust? Is there someone else you wish to marry?”

For Sukhjeet, her daughter was her pride, and Heer’s refusal shook her deeply.

Seeing doubt in her mother’s eyes, Heer wiped her tears and said, “No, there is no one. But I do not want to leave you and go anywhere.”

Sukhjeet burst into soft laughter at her daughter’s innocence. “Foolish girl. One day every daughter must leave her parents.”

She lovingly kissed Heer’s forehead. But before she could say anything more, voices were heard from outside.

Smiling, Sukhjeet said, “It seems they have arrived.” and before leaving she told Heer, “Do not come outside. Stay inside.”

Sukhjeet went out, but Heer’s heartbeat only grew faster.

Hearing the voices coming from the courtyard outside, she walked anxiously toward the window. The moment Henry’s voice reached her ears, the ground seemed to slip from beneath her feet.

An enemy.

How could this be possible? How could her father arrange her marriage with an Englishman, an enemy?

Heer’s hands and feet turned cold. She could not even understand what she should do.

Inside the room Heer felt as if her very life was slipping away, while outside Henry’s happiness knew no bounds.

He himself could hardly believe his fortune when Iqbal came to inform him that Baldev Singh had invited him to his house.

For the past month he had been praying day and night for this very thing, and now that his prayer had finally been answered, it almost felt unreal.

Everything seemed like a dream.

And even if it truly was a dream, Henry never wished to wake from such a beautiful one.

Baldev had agreed to the match and had even fixed the wedding date for after the coming Diwali.

At lunch, Baldev requested Henry to sit and dine with him, and Henry accepted the invitation warmly.

As soon as Henry left after the meal, Heer stepped out of her room, her eyes filled with tears and her heart burning with anger.

“I will not marry a white man! How can you arrange my marriage with an enemy, Bappu ji? Do I seem like such a burden to you? That....”

“Heer!” Sukhjeet interrupted sharply.

“No, no, Sukhjeet Kaur, let her speak,” Baldev said, raising his hand to silence her. Then he turned toward Heer. “Speak, child. What were you saying?”

Heer lowered her head, tears falling from her eyes.

“No, I did not mean to hurt you, Bappu ji… But I do not like the British. Yes, I admit that sometimes we have to interact with them because of our livelihood, but I…”

Baldev’s voice grew heavy, unable to hide the pain in it. “So you think, child, that I am selling you for the sake of my business?”

“No!” Heer shook her head immediately, but the damage had already been done. She had wounded her father with her words. “That was not what I meant.”

She tried to wipe her tears, but they would not stop. Baldev Singh looked at her intently, a father who understood his daughter’s pain, yet was crushed under the weight of his own helplessness.

“Then what did you mean, my child? Explain it to me.”

“I do not know,” Heer’s voice was breaking. “I just cannot accept this proposal. I cannot spend my life with an Englishman.”

Baldev Singh took a deep breath before continuing, “Heer, I understand what you are feeling. But child, try to think for a moment by placing yourself in my position. I am your father. You may believe that I made this decision for my own benefit, but the truth is, Heer, I am only concerned about your happiness.”

“What happiness could possibly come to me from this marriage?” Heer asked through her sobs, and each of her cries pierced Baldev’s heart like a dagger.

“Time will answer that for you, my child,” Baldev said gently, placing his hand on her head. “What I can see as a father, you cannot see yet.”

“But you could have married me to someone else!” Heer protested angrily. “Not to an Englishman.”

The pain and exhaustion in Baldev Singh’s eyes were impossible to miss.

“And if you married someone else, what guarantee is there that he would remain loyal to you?” Baldev asked. “Or have you already found someone who would be loyal to you and dragged your father’s honor into the dust?”

Before Heer could say anything, Sukhjeet spoke up, “Sardar Sahib, what kind of things are you saying? Our daughter is our pride.”

“Bappu ji, I will ask the same thing you just said,” Heer said through her tears. “What guarantee is there that that Englishman will not betray me?”

Baldev answered with quiet conviction. “My child, always remember this from your father. I have seen the world, and Henry may die, but he will never betray you. He is not like the other British officers. That is the very reason I could not refuse his proposal.”

Hearing this from Baldev left Heer stunned. Henry himself had stepped forward and asked for her hand in marriage.

And in Heer’s heart a single question kept rising, what could possibly be Henry’s true intention behind all of this?

“What do you think, child?” Baldev Singh’s voice had grown softer. “Do you believe that by marrying you off I am simply freeing myself from the burden of your responsibility? This match, this decision, is not merely the thinking of a merchant. I am a father first, and only then a businessman. Do you know what my greatest fear is?”

Heer lifted her eyes and looked at her father.

“My greatest fear is that your life partner might lead you into darkness, just as so many young men of Punjab are being drawn toward the revolutionaries. Whether it is Henry or someone else, his name or his wealth means nothing to me, child. What matters to me is your happiness. And right now, I see that happiness with no one except Henry.”

Heer’s heart began to pound rapidly. She had always believed that her father cared only about his honor and his business. But today, in Baldev Singh’s eyes, there was nothing except the pain of a father.

For a moment there was complete silence.

Heer said nothing. Her heart had already filled with another storm.

Had she truly given her heart to someone else? Or was it simply her hatred for the British rule that had clouded her thoughts?

She did not know.

Without saying another word, she turned and ran from there.

“Heer!” Sukhjeet cried out and was about to run after her, but Baldev stopped her.

“Let her go. Let's her cry it out. Once she eases her heart, she will return home.” Baldev said it calmly, but fear had also taken hold of his heart.

What if, overcome by emotion, his daughter took some reckless step?

Heer had barely stepped out of the house in tears when Nooran saw her leaving at that hour and hurried after her.

But by the time she reached Heer, Heer was standing at the edge of the well, ready to jump.

“Heer! Have you lost your mind?” Nooran pulled her back immediately.

“Nooran, let me die! Instead of dying every day in slavery after marriage, it is better that I end my life once and for all.”

Heer was completely shattered.

“Have you gone mad?” Nooran scolded her while pulling her into an embrace, and Heer burst into uncontrollable sobs in her friend’s arms. Through her tears she told Nooran everything.

“I know. Uncle Iqbal has already distributed sweets all over the city,” Nooran said as she made Heer sit beneath a nearby tree.

“What is happening, Nooran? My purpose is to fight for the freedom of my Motherland…”

“This too is a step toward your purpose, Heer,” Nooran interrupted her.

Heer looked at her friend in shock. “What do you mean?” she asked, wiping her tears.

“When Shafaq first suggested this, it sounded strange to me as well. But if you think about it carefully, nothing could be better than this marriage....”

“Have you gone mad, Nooran?” Heer cut her off angrily and stood up.

“Heer, listen to me first. Calmly.” Nooran tried to steady her and then explained everything.

“Look, if you marry the Lieutenant Colonel, you will be able to see his important documents without any suspicion. You will learn the plans of the British. We will be able to help free our country if someone close to them secretly passes us information about their every move. Think about it, Heer. What better opportunity could you have to serve your Mother India?”

Nooran’s words forced Heer to think deeply. She returned home quietly.

Heer was silent. Very silent.

After returning home, she did not speak a single word to anyone. Not to her mother, not to her father, not to anyone else. She simply went to her room and stood by the window, gazing at the courtyard in the faint light of the moon.

A storm was raging inside her.

On one side was her own pain. Her freedom had been taken away. Her life had been bound to an enemy without even asking her choice.

But on the other side, Nooran’s words kept echoing again and again in her mind.

“We will be able to free our country if someone close to them secretly brings us their plans…”

Heer took a deep breath.

Was this truly her destiny? Should she begin to see this marriage from a different perspective?

If Nooran was right, then this marriage would not be her weakness. It would become her greatest weapon.

A high ranking officer of the British army, her husband.

Then could she draw from his heart every secret that might serve the freedom of her country?

Heer clenched her fist.

If this was her fate, then it would become her new battle.

By morning Heer had made her decision.

Baldev Singh and Sukhjeet believed that Heer had accepted defeat, but they did not know the truth.

Heer had only decided to fight in a different way.

She spoke to no one, and her silence was taken as her agreement. Preparations for the wedding began with great excitement.

As the wedding day drew closer, Sukhjeet called Heer to sit beside her.

“My Heer, my princess, now you are stepping into a new life,” Sukhjeet said, gently stroking her head. Heer remained quiet, her eyes fixed on the ground.

“Married life is not a game, child,” Sukhjeet said softly, repeating the same lessons she herself had once been taught before her own marriage. “From now on your husband will be your master. Whatever he says, you must follow.”

For a moment Heer looked at her mother, but then lowered her eyes again.

“After marriage, a girl does not have dreams of her own,” Sukhjeet continued. There was a deep resignation in her words, as if she were preparing Heer for the same life she herself had lived. “Whatever the husband says becomes the truth, and that is the only path to a peaceful life.”

Heer’s heart sank. She was listening, but her soul refused to accept it. Was this really the truth? Would she have no will of her own? Was the purpose of her life only to become a devoted wife?

No.

Her dreams were far greater than that, and she would never abandon them for anyone.

And this marriage too was just a small step toward that very purpose.

“Your husband is a foreigner. His way of living will be very different from ours. Just mold yourself into his world like soft clay, my child.” Sukhjeet’s hidden worry seeped straight into Heer’s heart.

She was already burdened with so many thoughts, and now her mother’s words only made her heart feel heavier.

Sukhjeet kept stroking Heer’s head gently, but Heer remained silent, her eyes fixed on the ground.

Sukhjeet continued speaking, and now there was a strange warmth in her tone, as if she was preparing Heer for a deeper truth.

“My child, the relationship between husband and wife is not only about living a life together.” Her hand rested over Heer’s hand. “This bond is much more than that.”

For the first time Heer looked toward her mother. Sukhjeet’s gaze was slightly lowered, yet her voice carried the responsibility of a mother trying to guide her daughter.

“Whatever your husband does, do not feel shy.”

For a moment Heer’s breath caught in her throat. Her mother’s words had taken a turn she had never even wished to think about.

For Heer, the purpose of this marriage was only to weaken the British rule, not to truly build a new life with Henry.

“He may do certain things with you that will be completely new for you, but do not be frightened.” Sukhjeet held Heer’s hand firmly in both of hers and continued, “You may feel pain too, but…”

Sukhjeet could not finish the sentence. She took a deep breath and then softly said, “Whatever a husband asks, a wife must give. That is the rule created by God.”

Heer clasped her hands together. Her heart was beating rapidly. Everything she was hearing felt strange and unfamiliar.

“Every girl feels shy… but child, it is a wife’s duty to make her husband her own.”

Heer still said nothing, but her heart had filled with a strange mixture of fear and confusion.

Without meeting her mother’s eyes, she quietly stood up and walked back to her room.

Sukhjeet’s words kept echoing in Heer’s mind, and even the thought of Henry touching her made her soul tremble.

How would she endure all of this after marriage?

“No Heer, people have shed their blood for the freedom of this land. You only have to marry,” she tried to convince herself.

The wedding day was drawing closer, and a strange restlessness had taken hold of her heart. Her mother’s words still echoed in her mind. She could not understand at what turning point of life she now stood.

Today Nooran had come to meet her, and Heer was sitting quietly beside her in the courtyard.

Nooran noticed that Heer sat like a stranger to her own surroundings, as if her mind were wandering somewhere else. She slowly moved closer and held Heer’s hand in hers.

“What happened? What is my friend thinking about?” Nooran asked with a gentle smile.

Heer remained silent for a moment, then looked at her and said softly, “Everything just feels strange.”

Nooran understood every line of worry on her face. She stayed quiet for a moment, as if searching for the right words. Then she said gently, “Marriage is a new world, Heer. It feels strange to everyone.”

Heer gripped the edge of her dupatta tightly, gathering courage. Her heart was beating rapidly. “Mother said some things…” She stopped, trying to find the right way to say it.

Nooran took a deep breath. She understood where Heer’s thoughts were leading. She hesitated for a moment, then steadied herself and said, “Your mother is right, Heer. Marriage is not just about filling vermilion in the parting of your hair or wearing a bridal dress. It is a new bond. In it, you must accept your husband’s wishes, and when he chooses… he will have a right over you in every way. You cannot refuse him.”

Heer’s eyes filled with a strange unease. She asked softly, “But Nooran… is it necessary? Does a wife not have a will of her own? This feels wrong.”

Nooran squeezed her hand. “The first time brings pain, Heer. A lot of pain.” She sighed quietly, as if her own words weighed heavily on her heart. “But you cannot complain. A wife must learn patience.”

Heer lowered her gaze. Nooran’s words settled on her chest like a heavy stone.

“You are not alone, Heer. This happens to every girl. Everyone must walk through this path.”

Heer wiped the tears from her eyes. She listened to Nooran, but her heart was still restless. Was this truly every girl’s fate? Would she also have to walk this path silently, without question?

Nooran then placed a small ring in Heer’s palm and said, “I pray that you never need this. But if someday everything seems to fall apart, this will be the easiest way.”

Heer looked at Nooran, then at the ring lying in her hand. She did not understand.

“I know you are brave, Heer. You will handle everything. But if things ever go beyond your control, or if Henry’s cruelty becomes unbearable for you…”

“Use this?” Heer interrupted in shock.

“If it ever becomes necessary, yes,” Nooran said softly so that no one else could hear. “Even if you have to swallow the poison yourself. Do not hesitate. Death will be easier than enduring the cruelty of these foreigners.”

Two tears slipped from Heer’s eyes. She closed her fist tightly around the ring, as if trying to grasp her own fate. Nooran pulled her into an embrace.

Both of them remained silent, holding each other, trying to understand one another’s pain.

Nooran was deeply worried for the friend who was like a sister to her, because Heer was about to walk alone and unarmed into the house of an enemy.