[Baalz]

Personally, what I would do is throw myself on his mercy and beg to become a vassal. Make it more advantageous for him to leave you alive, maybe offer to pay tribute if it makes the difference. I only partially speak tongue in cheek, I'd expect the best way to play a normal in this game early on is to try and line up a sponsor (or maybe more than one you can play off each other!). Personally, I'd love to have a vassal or two who could come in and storm capitals after I crack them. This is a fun dynamic in a "backstabbing encouraged" game.