The Universal Register

Book Six

An Ordinary Day

2028

A photograph of a geometry classroom on an October afternoon, seen from the back: a fair-haired boy in a grey jumper sits alone at a wooden desk, head bent over an open exercise book with a protractor and a pencil beside it, the other desks empty, geometry drawn on the green chalkboard, the strip lights on under a storm-dark sky over the rooftops, and the door to the hall standing ajar. Crown on the Potomac An Ordinary Day Book Six 2028

October 2028. Prince Frederick is fifteen, the heir to fourteen Crowns, and his father lies in New Westminster General unable to find most of his words. On a Tuesday afternoon his father finds six of them, and that evening, at a kitchen table on the fourth floor of a block of flats, Frederick tells his friend, and is told to eat his dinner.

An Ordinary Day follows him through nineteen days: a statement written in an exercise book, answers arriving from fourteen realms, a Saturday of letters, a Monday lunch in the principal's office, and a geometry class on a Tuesday afternoon, when a teacher with an email asks to speak to him in the hall.

Each chapter opens with a short extract from the Universal Register, the encyclopedia of the world the book is set in. The extracts are quoted from the Register as it stands; the chapters show what happened in the rooms it was not in.

Begin reading: Prologue → Characters

Part One: The Question (24 to 29 October 2028)

  1. Prologue Frederick. Published 30 October 2026.
  2. 1 The Kitchen Table Frederick. Published 30 October 2026.
  3. 2 The Empty Table Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  4. 3 What the Others Know Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  5. 4 Fourteen Answers Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  6. 5 Ten Letters Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  7. 6 The Condition Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  8. 7 Four O'Clock on a Sunday Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.

Part Two: The Remaining Stages (30 and 31 October 2028)

  1. 8 Third Period Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  2. 9 Lunch Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  3. 10 Signed Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  4. 11 The Milwaukee Paper Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  5. 12 Eight O'Clock Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  6. 13 The Angle in a Semicircle Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  7. 14 Four O'Clock, as King Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  8. 15 Your Majesty, Once Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  9. 16 The Bag Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  10. Interlude: Halloween Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.

Part Three: An Ordinary Day (1 and 2 November 2028)

  1. 17 Marcus Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  2. 18 Desk Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  3. 19 The First Thursday Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  4. 20 The Audience Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.

Part Four: The Eleventh (3 to 11 November 2028)

  1. 21 The Assembly Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  2. 22 The Football Side Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  3. 23 Five Hours Again Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  4. 24 Hanover, Here Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  5. 25 The First Tuesday Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  6. 26 Race Day Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  7. 27 The Rehearsal Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  8. 28 Two Minutes on a Friday Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  9. 29 The Eleventh Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.
  10. 30 An Ordinary Day Frederick. Published 31 October 2026.