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. 12 min.
  2. 1 The Kitchen Table Frederick. 13 min.
  3. 2 The Empty Table Frederick. 18 min.
  4. 3 What the Others Know Frederick. 16 min.
  5. 4 Fourteen Answers Frederick. 16 min.
  6. 5 Ten Letters Frederick. 20 min.
  7. 6 The Condition Frederick. 17 min.
  8. 7 Four O'Clock on a Sunday Frederick. 12 min.

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

  1. 8 Third Period Frederick. 10 min.
  2. 9 Lunch Frederick. 16 min.
  3. 10 Signed Frederick. 11 min.
  4. 11 The Milwaukee Paper Frederick. 13 min.
  5. 12 Eight O'Clock Frederick. 13 min.
  6. 13 The Angle in a Semicircle Frederick. 19 min.
  7. 14 Four O'Clock, as King Frederick. 12 min.
  8. 15 Your Majesty, Once Frederick. 19 min.
  9. 16 The Bag Frederick. 11 min.
  10. Interlude: Halloween Frederick. 20 min.

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

  1. 17 Marcus Frederick. 17 min.
  2. 18 Desk Frederick. 18 min.
  3. 19 The First Thursday Frederick. 23 min.
  4. 20 The Audience Frederick. 18 min.

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

  1. 21 The Assembly Frederick. 24 min.
  2. 22 The Football Side Frederick. 18 min.
  3. 23 Five Hours Again Frederick. 16 min.
  4. 24 Hanover, Here Frederick. 18 min.
  5. 25 The First Tuesday Frederick. 19 min.
  6. 26 Race Day Frederick. 18 min.
  7. 27 The Rehearsal Frederick. 17 min.
  8. 28 Two Minutes on a Friday Frederick. 16 min.
  9. 29 The Eleventh Frederick. 23 min.
  10. 30 An Ordinary Day Frederick. 21 min.