Because you do not understand them, they do not speak?

[ He's just saying. All living things communicate.

He reaches out to pick up his tea, fingers closing around it. ]

I have seen dragons caged before. I have seen them bred like animals, butchered, their children stolen, their wills broken, used as experiments to breed creatures built to fight, used as steeds to ride into war. If I placed you in a house, and told you that you could not leave for your entire lifetime, but that you'd be safe -- would you be happy? There may be no bars, but you are still being kept.