The obvious thing to do would have been to leave Ankat or Kaliyan--if Ashari's taking them, their headaches can't be as bad as Ashari had implied--but the Kel are presumably useful in the construction of secret bases, too.

The more interesting question is why Ashari doesn't want their pet wolf in charge. Perhaps they expect Sasha to draw Quill's attention. Perhaps, also, they want someone they can hold accountable when things go wrong. Ashari knows how Sasha works, all the little levers and tripwires--she might as well have handed them a manual. They won't have the same hold on any of the others, save Sulen, and perhaps they feel some compunction about threatening one of their own.

"Thank you," Sasha says aloud, smiling her own smile with too many teeth, "I understand that I am fucked. Shall I braid my hair with your colors, or are we doing this informally? And when were you actually going to brief me?"