while i'm on here

i'll go ahead and post the next section of my story! here it is:



Erin led them down another series of corridors until everyone except Erin had completely lost their sense of direction. Finally Erin stopped; she started feeling along the wall to her left. After a few minutes, she seemed to have found something. She pushed her palm hard into the wall. Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing.
Erin giggled, "Matthew, can you come push right here on this stone? I’m not strong enough!" she showed him where to push. He placed his palm on the stone and pushed, immediately, a door appeared in the wall. Erin slid a small latch over to the right and the door opened. She peeked inside, and once she was satisfied that no one was in there, she opened it all the way. They all went into the room. It was very dark, with only one candle lighting the whole room. Erin walked over to the candle and took it down off the wall. She then lit a few more candles. Now they could see that the room was full of treasures. There were tapestries lining all of the walls. All the sconces were made of pure gold. They saw piles of jewelry in beautiful mahogany chests. There were rich silk robes hanging from golden hooks on the walls. Next to each tapestry there was a portrait of the king that had owned it.
"This is the room of the past kings of Ymbrai." Erin’s voice echoed in the large room. "Each of these chests holds treasures once owned by one of the kings, and each robe also belonged to a king. My father used to bring me here when I was a little girl and tell me how one day he would be one of the kings in this room. I thought it was the most amazing thing. My father already has his chest and portrait." She pointed to a half-filled chest and a portrait hanging above it. "His tapestry is hanging in the throne room, it will only hang in here after his death."
Jacob walked over to the chest. "Do you think the Crown might be in here?" He started gently digging through the chest.
Matthew joined him at the chest. "I think that if the Crown was in this chest, it would be at the top. I doubt that the king would just throw it in a chest with other less valuable objects."
Erin strode across the room to her father’s portrait. "I didn’t say it was in that chest. I just said it might be in this room. If it is in here, there is only one place it would be. Behind each of the portraits is a little compartment in the wall, holding that king’s most prized possession. Most of them are incredibly valuable, that is why it was necessary to have secret compartments. I think the Crown might be hidden behind my father’s portrait." Erin shifted the massive portrait over with difficulty. Behind it was a small door, which Erin opened cautiously. Inside was a simple circlet of gold. It looked like two strands of gold yarn woven together.
Jacob moved quickly over to the little door. He reached inside and reverently lifted the circlet out of the compartment.
"Is that It?" Elizabeth asked. "I always imagined it more elaborate than that."
Jacob smiled, "That is exactly why it is not elaborate. The maker of this Crown predicted that most people would assume it to be fancy, so he made it simple. It is still lovely, is it not?"
"Shall we leave now? I expect the king will come here soon." Matthew suggested.
"You are correct, young man," a deep voice said.
Jacob quickly hid the Crown in his cloak. Erin leaned against the portrait and slid it back into place. They all turned around slowly. There stood the king of Ymbrai.
"Daddy! I was just showing my friends the portraits of the past kings." Erin falsely explained. She ran over and hugged him tightly.
"Erin, I told you this room was supposed to be a secret!" the king scolded.
Erin looked up at her father and made her best puppy face. "I am sorry Daddy, I just assumed it would be fine to show my friends. They will not speak of it to anyone else, will you?" she asked the others.
They all shook their heads. "Of course not, Your Majesty!" said Elizabeth.
Erin smiled sweetly at her father. "We will leave you in peace now, Daddy. I am sorry to have bothered you." She hugged her father once more, and then waved for the others to follow her. They all bowed to the king as they left.
Once they were outside the room, they ran as quietly as possible back through the maze of hallways.
"He will quickly discover that the Crown is missing," Erin panted. "We must hurry. He will come after us as soon as he realizes that It is gone."
"You will have to come with us, Erin," Elizabeth insisted. "Your father will know that you had part in taking the Crown. There is no telling what he might do in his rage."
"She is right, you must come with us." Jacob agreed.
"I suppose so," Erin sighed. "I will just miss my father very much. But I know that it would not be wise to stay here after what I have done."
They rushed until they reached the front entrance to the castle, where they slowed down and acted calm. They made it past the guards without any problems. Erin was able to easily convince them to let her and her friends through. After they were out of sight of the castle they started running as fast as they could. Finally they reached Elizabeth’s dragon.
Elizabeth mounted her dragon, Nomys, with Matthew close behind her. Then they realized that it would be difficult to fit all four of them. This was a domestic dragon, bred for riding. Those dragons were not as large as wild dragons.
"Oh no," Erin groaned. "I suppose I must go back and get my dragon, he is just so finicky. Jacob and I can go through the wood and get him. Our dragon field is on the other side of the forest."
They resolved that Elizabeth and Matthew would wait until they saw Erin and Jacob flying overhead. Then they would all fly together. Jacob gave the Crown to Elizabeth and told her and Matthew to go home without them if they had to. Then he and Erin left.