Is Melina the gloam-eyed queen?
The nobles served “the gloam eyed queen” yet the apostle set says:
The apostles, once said to serve Destined Death, are wielders of the god-slaying black flame. But after their defeat by Maliketh, the Black Blade, the source of their power was sealed away.
Maliketh’s black blade’s ash is destined death…
Maliketh's black blade which once harbored the power of the Rune of Death. A sad shadow of its former glory.
After a fragment of Death was stolen on that fateful night, Maliketh bound the blade within his own flesh, such that none might ever rob Death again.
Maliketh also defeated the gloam eyed queen, though I forget which item description says this. So it’s interesting Melina sends you to the atemporal farum azula, where the first Elden lord in placidusax is still alive and maliketh is as well. Maliketh in the tarnished’s timeline to that point was as gurranq - eating death root and remarking about what he used to do + having the same fighting style. Farum Azula’s wreckage are all across the lands between.
Melina tells you that she was set on her course by her mother, wanting to burn the erdtree. She wants new life to take the place of old life - not this rebirth treadmill. She says she wants to repair the land by re-adding the element of death. She then says,
The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.
Which makes me think the godskins, made to use black flame to slay gods, served Melina or Melina’s mom.
Her dagger says:
Dagger given to one who set out on a journey to fulfill her duty long ago. The power of its former owner, the kindling maiden, is still apparent.
The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.
This kind of implies Marika is her mom so marika is probably not the gloam eyed queen - especially since marika is a god herself and chose to remove the component of death. So creating a race of god killers doesn’t jive too well.
If you do the frenzied flame ending
Lord of Frenzied Flame... I will seek you, as far as you may travel... To deliver you what is yours. Destined Death.
And as servants of this destined death, I think it’s again implying Melina is this gloam eyed queen. The godskins were her soldiers and she wanted to kill the gods, first by restoring the ring to enable death again.