The Plymouth Cloak — Kate Sedley

Young Roger the Chapman is a seller of goods as well as a solver of puzzles and is known as a man of integrity and ingenuity. Asked to provide trustworthy protection to a royal messenger carrying a crucial secret letter--a man with seemingly as many enemies as the beleaguered throne--Roger sets out on a journey of two days and countless dangers.

Stalked at every step by would-be assassins, Roger soon realizes that he must discover the hidden truths of his traveling companion's past if he has any hope of fulfilling--or even surviving--his mission.