Natalia brings Elsa to Duarte, requests the inquiry into her husband's death, and grieves before the ruler responsible for imperial discipline.
Natalia's plans to bring her family and agricultural research to Medina end with Santiago Singh's death. As the widow of a Laconian lost in imperial service, she invokes the right to a private audience with Winston Duarte and brings Elsa with her to the State Building.
Proud and defiant through grief, Natalia requests the full formal inquiry. She insists her husband was not a killer. Duarte answers that Singh was a good man placed in an extreme situation who overreacted, and that the standards applied to imperial rulers are necessarily harsh. He promises government support, importance for her work, and an academy place for Elsa. Natalia finally weeps openly with her daughter in her lap while Duarte holds her hand and witnesses the consequence of his decision.
An adult woman with long hair and intelligent expressive eyes, dressed in somber dark blue with white accents to match her daughter, her face controlled until grief breaks through.
Natalia is Singh's widow and the grieving citizen through whom Duarte performs both personal responsibility and institutional care after executing imperial discipline.