"We-ell," Ashari says, drawing out the syllable, "let me put it this way. Do you trust Mishka not to get into trouble, or Virmad not to have a crush on the latest handsome man to flutter his eyelashes at him, or Sasha to keep her temper, or Iawa to know what to do in a crisis, or Alaric not to reveal himself as a foreigner? I need someone to keep an eye on things. It's you or no one."