Calixa didn't feel bad for hurting the man. A dislocated elbow was easy enough to fix anyway. 

"Now tell me again, why should I trust you are no longer with them?" 

She was quick to find his arrogant laugh insulting. 

"As I have said. You cannot and have no reason to. But The Midnight Sun knows where you are anyway. Your disappearance did not trick them; they took it to their advantage. They've begun infiltrating the palace, acting as advisors to your oh-so-desperate friends. Even I don't want to see Summer fall to disarray, and here you are, letting it happen. But I can help. I could show you their patron, if you allow me." 

"Show?"

"Even you aren't immune to dreams, my lady".

Calixa tensed, realizing what he was suggesting. "No. No, I do not want your winter magic on me." 

"Well then, suit yourself." She heard him pop his elbow back into place with a grunt. "Though it is a shame, you could have learned so much, and saved so many".

She paused, staying still. "What is your name?" 

"Ereniel, my lady" 

She was surprised. "An archfey?" 

"Fallen archfey, unfortunately." 

"How did you fall?" 

"I lost a game. Yet the sponsor I mentioned still has a hold on me".

Calixa swore. He couldn't lie, yet it all sounded too fantastical to believe. 

"I know enough to be certain that, once I leave this room, you will likely never see me again, save once. Unless you want to, of course, that could always be arranged..."

"Why are you helping me? It can't be only for a favor in return." 

The man was finally silent for a moment, seemingly searching for an answer. 

"To help the little bit of faith I have left in our kind." 

"Ugh, must you be so dramatic?" 

Ereniel laughed out. "You wound me, my lady, maybe I don't want to help you anymore."

"Your arm was nothing more than a toothpick for me-" she threatened, cut off by a cold hand on her arm.

"And your mind is already an open book to me" he replied in kind. "My lady, I don't have to help you. But you know nothing of what is at play here. You know nothing of the game you have become a pawn in. Blind to the information I have, you are simply a game piece for my Lord to take, just like us all." 

Calixa heard a break in his voice at that last word. 

"You dislike the one you serve."

The laugh became sharp as glass. "You are beginning to understand." 

She leaned back against - something. A pillar, maybe? A wall? She was unsure. This man knew of the Midnight Sun, who they worked for. He hated them. An enemy of her enemy... 

"Fine. I'll let you show me. Yet I would rather you tell me." 

"Words are such fickle things, do you not agree? 

"I said it was alright."

"You know I'll require a favor sometime in the future, yes?" 

"Of course, you archfey never do anything for free, even when fallen."

His icy laugh was closer. 

"I'm glad we agree then." 

As she expected, his lips on hers were cold as ice.