1: I liked the relationship between mother and son. And if you can change the part about washable fabric as we talked about, I think the situation is perfect.
One thing I did notice in the exchange was his pleasure that his mother had brought food and stuff to wash his hands. There's nothing wrong with this, but it is out of the ordinary. You might consider how important the idea is in the culture you are creating. Washing feet in Christ's time had a special significance. It seemed to me that clean hands had a special significance in yours as well. Did you mean that? It is, afterall, entirely possible that it is not out of the ordinary in any fantasy culture, but they just don't choose to mention it.
If it
is significant, consider weaving the practice into your story in general to emphasize the practice's place in the culture you are creating. You could even use it as a distinguishing mark to your discerning readers. Who does, who doesn't?
2: I agree with the need for more action between the main character and his father. When I first read it I thought all of the violence meant that A. was beating the crap out of F., which in turn made me balk at the casual attitude F.'s mother took to the displeasure F. would have to face at the hands of his father. It would be good to give a better picture of their relationship before F. leaves on his soujorn through life as a bull.
3: The action could use some work, but I don't think it's anything that a few proofs later wouldn't fix. One thing I would suggest is making some reference to R. standing outside the door (and why he's there--evesdropping? Trying to be as close as possible to prevent his vision?) before he is thrown to the ground. I wasn't ready for the switch between F. & A. to R. so quickly, and I got confused.
4: The only flaw I see is that there isn't another chapter to read this week.
I want to know what happens!!
5: Most of us have Trillian (which logs all conversations automatically, unless you tell it not to), so we can email them to you. JP uses it, Saint and I use it, etc.
