Thank you so much! It was a lot of fun to write - Quentessë was intended to be one of Indis' ladies-in-waiting with a minor role, but she was quite insistent that she receive a backstory first, and then Indis herself started talking, and suddenly I had this story.

You have a very good eye for mood in a story, and I'm so happy that your observation and my intention match - with the way I envision Cuiviénen (and especially Indis and her lover), it was a hard life, but far from a terrible time, rather one to look back at with a sort of nostalgia (beside the fact that the general sentiment could be argued to be canonically supported. Fëanor's speech ["sweet ran the waters under unclouded stars..."] would hardly have resonated as much if there weren't at least some residual feeling for the old home). And we actually have some hints toward changing belief systems among the early Kwendî, so it feels somewhat ludicrous to assume that the Laws and Customs were in place from the beginning and tradition didn't alter them one bit.

But I'm rambling - thanks for the lovely review, especially considering how self-indulgent this little fic was. ;)

Thank you! I'm glad she's nice to meet (as always, I grow way too fond of OCs way too quickly) and the historical exposition works. And yes - this is a one-shot off "The Beautiful Ones", so it should be set to completed, and I'll remedy that right away; thank you for the heads-up.