This could easily enough be a trick. A plan to make Kai trust him, words twisted deliberately make that happen. But that doesn't really make sense when Kai stops to think about it. His brother and father never cared about fooling Kai's mind, didn't need that control to accomplish everything else they wanted.

So Kai has to seriously consider the possibility that Marco is telling him the truth. Even if that still doesn't leave him clear on why he's sharing that much.

"I have no desire to get involved in elfin politics," Kai says with an apologetic shrug as he picks up Marco's glass. He sips at it this time. "If you're looking for an ally you could do much better." And Kai can't exactly see himself as being much use to Marco, or Merlin, even if he were wiling to play meatshield himself.