Hereditary Read Online Free Page A

like a desert cactus as well.”
    To my surprise, a laugh bubbled from my lips. Usually when people commented on my beauty, it was to mock me, but the way this boy spoke, it was as if he were completely unaffected by both my beauty and my blood, which made me warm to him, if only a little.
    “Bea,” I looked away from him, to the blossom that I had thrown to the ground earlier. “Call me Bea.”
    He held out his hand, much to my surprise.
    “Nice to meet you Bea, I’m Cale. Cale Sekron.”
    I stared at him, my eyes moving from his hand to his mischievous expression, until the name finally clicked in my mind. I jumped off the bench, and he let his hand drop, something in his eyes telling me that he had expected this. My first reaction was to walk off haughtily, to regain some of my dignity, but Cale was the first person who had been nice to me, and was likely the only person who would be nice to me today, if not all year. Was it really his fault that his father lived to make my own father’s life hell?
    “Nice to meet you too,” I finally said, flashing him a hesitant smile.
    He seemed surprised.
    Just then, the deserted courtyard that had been my temporary sanctuary began to fill with people, and I assumed that class must have finished. I turned from Cale to survey the people now congregating into groups and sneaking off to their own respective corners, with only a few milling about the grass in the open.
    “If I were you, I’d clear out right about now,” I heard Cale whisper.
    Unfortunately, the group heading for the table beneath the cherry-blossom tree had already locked onto me, and I found myself momentarily arrested by the sight of them. They were a mix of elven and human, with only one fae girl that I could see. She was, naturally, the most beautiful of them all, though the male leading them could certainly have given her a run for her money. She was average height, but willowy, and walked with the looping grace of a trained court dancer. It took me a moment to recognise the short dark hair and dark eyes from my first lesson, but as soon as she saw me and once again flinched away from my gaze, I remembered her. The leading male had similar colouring to her, with the pale skin of the fae, dark hair, and fathomless dark eyes, though he was a human. He was very tall for his age, and while he did have a certain willowy quality to his limbs, he didn’t look weak by any means. Flanked either side of him were two other humans, both male, and both looking angry at my presence. Similarly, two blondes walked arm-in-arm with the dark-haired girl, only a few steps behind.
    When they reached me, Cale jumped off the bench and put his arm lightly about my shoulders, a touch that took the others momentarily aback, and me along with them. I froze, not sure how to react to another person touching me, and wondering how he had even gartered the courage to do it in the first place. The only people who had ever dared to touch me before were my parents. Even the court Healers refused to come near me, which were the only times that I was thankful for my synfee immune system.
    “You do realise who she is, don’t you, Cale?”
    This came from one of the elven girls, who had come to the front of the group and touched the arm of their dark-haired leader. He was the only one of them who didn’t seem to be highly disturbed by my presence, and in fact, if his dark gaze hadn’t travelled briefly over me, I would have assumed that he didn’t see me there at all.
    “Isn’t your mother part of the King’s Harem, Kaylee? You don’t see me calling you a whore now, do you?” returned Cale.
    Kaylee’s eyes flashed, and she made to take a threatening step forward, but the dark-haired boy stopped her, turning his bored expression to Cale. Once again, he hadn’t seemed at all bothered by Cale’s behaviour, though I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
    “What’s she doing here?” said the dark-haired boy.
    I quickly stepped out