[ He remembers Kyle asking why he was chosen, and answering I wasn't. Beyond that, he'd said little of his time in Thorne. Including the fact that the first of them were never given the option to refuse the connection. ]

We were divided. Those unwanted were sent to the dungeons. The rest were guests. As you are. [ No changes there, in how they treat the Summoned they approved of. ] Some months in, the castle was breached. Interrupted an execution. I don't know who they are but—they opened portals. We fled through them. Others chose to stay.

[ He's never seen Oliver again. With so much going on, the question of the mage has truthfully been pushed aside for more pressing matters. But he can't help wondering where the man vanished to. Why free the prisoners, then disappear? For what purpose? ]

My time was too restricted to identify Thorne's protections. [ He leans forward. ] But their reach is enough to have taken me a second time, outside their borders.